A Meeting and A Dream
by Pork-chizzle654
Summary: Chapter 20: The official last chapter. This is what I like to call the fluffy wrap up. May contained more than the daily allowance of doctor recommended fluffiness. You have been warned.
1. Arms of A Stranger

A Meeting and A Dream.

A K.N.M. Fan fiction.

I do not own Kannazuki no Miko, this story belongs to me however. Please respect the ideas of myself, and others. Thank you.

Chapter 1: The Arms of A Stranger.

Himeko, age 21, blinked as reality came back to her and she was in the arms of a woman she had never seen. It happened suddenly, she had been walking to her part time job as she normally did when she passed by the woman in a white one piece dress, her blue-black hair flowing down past her knees, a tiny pink seashell hanging from her graceful neck, her eyes shining like a star sapphire in the light of the noon day sun. It was a scene that would take someone back with its beauty but it was not something that would make a person do what she had just done. Himeko felt warmth and love in those precious few moments she had held the woman in her arms, it was a feeling that made her belong. Even in the protective embrace, the feeling of wanting to never let go of the other girl Himeko suddenly felt out of place. The girl tried to think of something quick, now that she was in the arms of the strange girl and standing in the middle of an intersection at that. Himeko backed off a bit, letting go just enough to look at the face of the girl she had just embraced, and what she saw made her feel a combination of guilt and sadness.

"Do I know you, miss?" It was not asked in a way that would offend her in and of itself but the total lack of recognition caused the blond girl to panic.

"No," Himeko managed to stutter as she backed away, "So sorry, please think nothing of it."

With those words the girl had ran off down the street, her long blond hair trailing behind her as her amethyst eyes expressed her embarrassment. She was normally reserved, she had no right doing that to her closest friend let alone a stranger. It was too much to bear, Himeko did not stop running until she arrived at her work, out of breath and close to collapsing. The blond staggered inside the door and slowly made her way to the break room, patrons and employees of the store she worked at giving her worried looks. One employee excused herself and followed the girl to the back to see if there was anything wrong with her.

"Himeko, you're pretty early, are you okay?" a girl with brown hair asked.

The girl in question was sitting in a cheap looking chair breathing heavily, "Makoto, I'm not feeling so good."

The girl looked back at the door where she had just entered and then back to Himeko, "Did someone attack you? Did you get hurt?"

"I'm okay," Himeko looked up and her worry shone in her eyes, "It's more like I attacked someone. I passed a stranger on the way here and for some reason I embraced her."

There was the widening of eyes and Makoto heard this, for Himeko to do something like that was totally out of the question. The blond would have died of embarrassment before she ever even touched someone else in what would be considered an intimate way. She could tell that even Himeko was scared of what she had just done, that she still came to work was amazing. Of course, thinking a little on it, Makoto realized that the blond must have just ran away without thinking and ended up here.

"Hang on a second," Makoto exited the room for a few minutes and Himeko was left alone for a while before the girl returned, "Come on, Himeko, let's get home. I convinced the boss to let you have the day off, I'm just getting off so I'm going to take you home."

Himeko was usually not one to take a day off from work but today she felt like something was stirring inside of her. It made her sick to think about it and she graciously took Makoto's hand and the two of them walk towards the blond girls home. It took a while on foot but the brown haired girl never left Himeko's side. In truth it was not only that she was worried about Himeko that the brown haired girl helped her friend home. Secretly, Makoto was in love with the girl, and not just a little bit. It had been that way since they were friends in high school.

Himeko was always being bullied by other girls simply because she did not fit in with their views of how things should think. She was naturally shy, so it made her easy prey for those who needed to feel superior, Makoto had always been there to offer a helping hand. It was no secret that Himeko thought of her is a close friend, and that was it. As much as she had wanted more the blond had told her many times that she was searching for someone, not to dissuade the brown haired girl from coming on to her, for Himeko did not even know that Makoto felt that way, but to explain why she never felt the need to search for companionship outside of friendship. The way she had said the words had broken Makoto's heart as it only served to strengthen the foundation in her mind that there was no place for her in Himeko's heart.

They arrived at Himeko's apartment and Makoto led the blond to her bed where she lay the girl down, "Do you need anything?"

Himeko managed to shake her head before settling back into the pillow, Makoto sighed and turned to leave, "You're going already?"

"If you don't need anything," Makoto knew that it would be painful to stay but she would not deny Himeko if she asked.

"Thanks for taking me home," Himeko sighed before she closed her eyes and muttered, "Thanks for everything Makoto-chan."

The brown haired girl smiled bitter-sweetly and placed a hand on the sleeping Himeko, "No, thank you."

----wolfy (note, these should never make sense)! --------------------------------------------------

When Himeko woke she was alone, alone and in the dark with the moon's pale light shining down on her body. She remembered that she had been brought home after she arrived at work while gasping for breath and suddenly she had started to feel sick. The reason was not so much because she had hugged the stranger, though that was not normal it was nothing to feel sick about. It seemed that after she had sat down in the employee lounge at her work, after Makoto had left her all alone, she had a flash of something in her memories that was not altogether pleasant. A girl covered in blood had stood before her with accusing eyes.

The blond sat up and looked around the room she was in, it was not her room she realized as she looked around. Blinking she was about to get out of the overly large bed, a bed that she had never owned, when the door to the room opened and a woman cloaked in shadow entered. As she closed and locked the door, the woman started to walk towards her. Himeko felt a fear grip her and she scrambled out of bed to get away from the woman.

"Himeko, my Himeko, you belong to me," The blond did not recognize the voice but as the moon illuminated more of the woman she could see blood running down her arms and part of her face.

"What do you mean?" Himeko gasped as she backed against the window and stared frightened at the sapphire blue eyes that met her amethyst ones, "I don't even know you."

"You don't know me?" The girl who was pursuing her suddenly ran forward and pressed her body against the blonds, "I love you, you forgot how much I love you! I will MAKE you remember my love! Himeko is mine! I own her, nobody can have her!"

The blond felt a hand press against her chest and massage her, she wanted to run and hide, the hand explored her body and Himeko panicked. Pushing with all her strength she managed to free herself before running to the door. She tried to turn the handle but it was locked as she expected. She did not get a second chance because the girl tacked her to the ground, the smell of blood surrounded her as the two bodies pressed close.

"This is the punishment you receive because you forgot about me," The girl whispered in Himeko's ear, "You won't acknowledge my love for you."

Something about the voice struck a cord in the blond and before she could stop the words a name escaped her mouth, "Chikane-chan, stop! I love you, I never forgot about you, not completely, so please stop."

A face came into view and Himeko realized it was a face she had seen many times in her dreams, it was a face of a stranger and yet not a stranger. The face of the one person she had loved for so long without even knowing. Tears sprang forth and Himeko wrapped her arms around the beloved yet twisted image of the girl in front of her. Everything calmed down and the dark room was replaced with a garden of roses with a cherry tree in the center. It was then that the blond realized that she was in a dream and that the person in front of her was about to leave her. Tears sprang forth as she realized too late that this was the end for the two of them.

"I love you forever, Chikane-chan," Himeko cried as she watched the girl disappear from her arms, "Please don't go!"

There was a bittersweet smile then as the girl faded from Himeko's view, whispering her last words, "I love you too, I'm sorry, my sweet Himeko."

: - ( sadness) (this one might) ----------------------------------------------------------------

She woke in a cold sweat, her clothes soaked and breathing heavily in her dark room. Himeko wiped the seat from her forehead with her arm and realized that some of the sweat was warmer than it should be. Her blurry vision confirmed what she suspected, she was crying, for some reason the dream had caused her to cry hard. There was little she could remember about what happened but the face of the girl that was in her dream stayed in her mind more than it should have. Sapphire blue eyes, black hair that went just below her knees, and the pale soft skin that hurt her and tenderly caressed her. Even the name remained like a permanent edifice in her mind, Chikane-chan. Himemiya Chikane, the princess of Himemiya Industries and way too far out of Himeko's league to even consider something like the dream had shown her. Even if that was the case, she had a feeling that nothing would be resolved if she did not see her princess.

"That's right, I have always been looking, haven't I," The blond lay back down in her bed and hugged her pillow as if it would protect her from something trying to harm her, "The person that I was waiting for was Chikane-chan. There's no way she could have waited for me though," Himeko drifted off to sleep once again.

It was some time later before she woke once again and realized that it was morning, she also realized that if she did not get out of bed soon she would be late for school. Himeko gasped and shot out of bed, quickly going through her usual routine to get ready in the morning. Her uniform had been laid out before she went to work so that she could easily find everything she needed to wear. Quickly she finished dressing and ran out the door to the bus stop where she could only hope she was in time to catch the bus before it departed. If she did not catch this one there was a good chance that the next bus would get her to school too late to make it to class.

Today luck was not on her side, if you asked her it hardly ever was, and she witnessed the bus pull away just as she made it to the stop. The blond felt like her legs would turn to jelly at any moment, it was only a half mile from her house but she had never been all that athletic, that was Makoto's department. Himeko sat down on the bench heavily and reached into her pocket for her cell phone, she could at least inform her friend that she would be late in case anybody asked where she was. The phone rang once, twice, three times before a voice was heard.

"Hello, this is Makoto," The voice said.

"Makoto this is Himeko-" Himeko's voice was cut off as the voice on the other end continued.

"I can't come to the phone right now but leave me a message and I'll get back to you."

Himeko sighed and left her message before she closed the phone and replaced it in her pocket, it seemed that whenever she really need help there was nobody around. Makoto was her room mate in truth but that was only the story they gave everyone when they asked how Himeko lived alone without any outside support. The brown haired girl was hardly in the apartment and when she was it was only to sleep, other than that Himeko was relatively alone. The blond cut her thoughts off and put on a determined face, now was not the time to be depressed, there had to be another way.

"Think, Himeko," The girl told herself as she leaned back on the bench and tried to think of a way to get to her school without being late.

As time passed the girl realized that instead of thinking of ways to get to school she was thinking of the dream. That vivid dream that had both terrified and warmed her, gave her everything and took it away in the same breath. If only she could forget the first part of the dream, the part that was the most prominent. By nature she was not a depressed person, most would probably say she was unnaturally happy considering all she had been through in her life. It was another part of her life that only Makoto knew, her closest friend always seemed to be there for her. Himeko let herself sigh as she realized just how futile it was to look for an alternative to her school, she just kept getting sidetracked by other problems.

The blond took out her purse and looked at the change in it to make sure that she had enough to cover the bus fare. It would be no good if the bus came and she was forced to pass it up because of something stupid like a few coins. Once she verified that there was enough money, Himeko settled back into the bench seat and let her mind wonder over idle thoughts. She almost fell asleep until a voice called her.

"You look like you could use a ride," It was a smooth voice, musical and refined, "Besides, I have some things to talk to you about."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry if this is a little angst driven, it occurred to me that while there are a lot of fan fictions about H&C getting together in a new life, few of them put the two in any kind of danger. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing per-se, it just seems to me a little unlikely that NOTHING would go wrong. I will try to lighten the mood a little but there is not firm promise considering the premise of the story.

Oh, and for the record I think Souma got a pretty raw deal at the end.


	2. Waning Moon

A Meeting and A Dream.

A K.N.M. Fan fiction.

I do not own Kannazuki no Miko, this story belongs to me however. Please respect the ideas of myself, and others. Thank you.

NOTE: Just to shut down any thoughts of putting anyone through too much, that is not the goal of this story. I simply wish to convey the thought that reality can sometimes throw a curve ball at you in an unexpected way. I'm aiming for a blatantly happy ending for everyone in the story. That does not mean that everything with be perfect but please rest assured, the the plan is for happiness.

Chapter 2: A Waning Moon

Himemiya Chikane was confused for probably the first time in her life, something had just happened that caught her totally off guard. An embrace from a total stranger, nobody except her parents had ever hugged her as she had just been hugged. The girl could almost feel the deep unrestrained love coming from the stranger and for her part, something inside Chikane wanted to return it with a passion she had never felt before. Many had called her an ice princess that no man, or woman for that matter, could melt. She was close to admitting that this was true until today. A dam seemed to have burst open and instead of water it was a feeling of love deeper than anything the woman had felt. It transcended time and space to find her a this very moment without anything to guard her against the onslaught. Chikane was fighting hard to keep her legs from turning into jelly right there in the intersection, it would not do for the princess of Himemiya Industries to collapse in the middle of the street with a strange girl around her neck.

"Do I know you, miss," Chikane was hoping the girl said yes, no matter how impossible it would have been.

"No, so sorry, please think nothing of it.," with that the blond was gone and Himemiya Chikane was left alone with a confused look on her face in the middle of a busy intersection.

It did not take long for the woman to regain her wits as cars started to honk in outrage at the fact that she was just standing there. Quickly she jogged out of the intersection and continued on her way towards the place she had been heading. It was not exactly a secret that Chikane was a well known pianist in the music world and it had been with pleasure that she had accepted the invitation to place a live concert and the college that her parents owned and built. She would not be late for the meeting but because of the encounter she would definitely cut it close.

It took about a half hour to arrive at the college in the end and she had to immediately hurry to the heard masters office to arrive in time for the meeting. Sure it was not overly important that she arrive on time for such an event, it was just that she was not one who liked to arrive late. Straitening herself and taking a deep breath she knocked on the door. The headmaster opened in and let her inside with a grateful yet composed sweep of his hands.

"Miss Himemiya, you honor us with you presence, please come in," The old man smiled cheerfully as Chikane entered.

"Thank you, sir," She entered and took a seat.

The meeting was nothing special, there was a discussion of time and place of the concert and of course how long it would be. Chikane finished up within an hour and made her way back towards the front gate of the college where a car would be waiting to pick her up. The place she was staying was not so far to walk but her parents were very overprotective, it took an hour to convince them to let her walk to the college. Even after she convinced them they insisted that they at least pick her up. Since she had no real reason to refuse Chikane agreed to let it go. It irked her to no end how smother her parents were, she was 20 years old for crying out loud. I was really bad during her 16th birthday when she started having strange nightmares. Since then they had started to back off little by little, however it was not fast enough for her.

Chikane got in the car that was waiting for her, an expensive looking sedan black in color and chrome trimmed around the door and in a thin line that ran the length of the side of the car. She enjoyed the smooth ride as she looked out the window in silence, the street passing quickly as she leaned against the door handle and viewed the street. The life of a princess was something that she had always despised, not that she did not feel grateful for all she had. Simply put she hated that everyone thought she was on this high pedestal, she simply wanted to be a normal girl.

Out the window she managed to catch a view of a girl with short brown hair walking next to a girl with long blond hair. Chikane blinked and sat up strait in her seat, her heart stopped and her stomach twisted in a knot for some unknown reason. That girl, the blond, it was the one she saw earlier, the one that had suddenly embraced her in the intersection. The dark haired girl closed her eyes and turned away from the scene, those two were probably together so it was not her business. It was not her business, but what was this pain, this cold feeling that spread through her body and caused her pain.

"Excuse me, Lady Chikane, are you alright," The driver was glancing at her in the rear view mirror.

Returning to the present, Chikane composed herself, "I'm fine, thank you, I'm just tired from the trip."

The driver looked forward again and said, "Would the lady like to go strait back to her hotel?"

"That would be fine," The young woman nodded, "Thank you again."

Though she was often icy towards people, there were a few people that she could trust enough to show her emotions to. One of those was the driver, he was like a mobile support service for her emotions when something was troubling her. The other people were her parents, they had raised her after all and she felt that it would be unfair to keep herself hidden from them. The car turned a corner and slowed as it entered a side street.

"People are strange," Chikane was not sure if she was saying it to herself or to the driver.

The driver responded either way, "Yes, so emotional and mysterious. Few times do they express what they actually feel to other people. If the lady ever finds someone that is so truthful she should hold on to her as tight as possible."

Chikane looked at the man's face in the mirror, it was an old kind face that now held a small smile. It was true what he said, somehow he had always been able to figure out what she had been thinking simply by seeing her face. The car stopped and the door opened for her, she exited and made her way towards the hotel after thanking the driver one last time. Once inside she entered an elevator and pressed the button for the floor she was staying on. Minutes later there was a quiet chime and she exited, making her way towards her room and entering it. Since she did not actually live in this city she had decided to stay in a hotel, of course her parents had insisted on nothing less than four stars, of course it would only be for a couple weeks. Chikane had not got a four star hotel because there were none available, but she did get a five star. This meant that if she needed a meal all she had to do was call down to front desk and ask. Right now she felt like eating a meal but not going out so that was exactly what she did.

Room service came quickly and she accepted the food and ate quickly before taking a long shower to relax her muscles. As she stood in the steam, the heat clearing her head and loosing her muscles. Today had been strange from the start when she rose and felt like something had been missing. There was nothing tangible about it but she knew the feeling of loneliness. Ever since her 16th birthday she had felt that same loneliness, always in the morning and always at random times. It would be there one day and disappear for weeks, sometimes months. Chikane shut off the water and reached for a towel, wrapping it around her body and using another to dry her hair.

Chikane sighed as she finished drying her hair and dressed in her nightgown. It was not outrageously late but she felt more tired than normal. Laying down on her the bed in her room she pulled the blanket over her and sighed as she closed her eyes and felt warmth engulf her. Even with the comfort of the bed and blanket it took some time for her to actually get to sleep, but when it finally came for her she did not even realize that it happened.

---------------(REDRUM!)---------------

It was dark in the room, Chikane had just walked in and locked the door behind her. In front of her lay the girl of her desire, her blond hair splayed out in a fan beneath her as she lay asleep. The dark haired girl paused and studied the figure for a second before she took a step forward. Her footsteps hit the ground softly but it was so loud in the quietness of the dark room that she was afraid she would wake the slumbering girl. Each step took her closing until she was hovering right above the blond haired girl, right over her face, over those soft lips that called to her. Chikane could not stop herself as she bent down on the bed and stole a sweet kiss from the lips of her loved one.

Even after this there was no movement and Chikane began to worry, something was definitely not right about this scene. The young woman looked at the blonds face once more and noticed that her eyes were opened but staring at nothing. Her blue eyes widened as she realized what that meant and she threw the covers off the bed only to see a deep crimson flowing into the snow white sheets of the bed. Horror and panic gripped Chikane as she tried to scream, nothing came out though and she was stuck shaking her head back and forth in disbelief. She leaned over and hugged the girl to her body as tightly as she could, begging for this to not be true.

"Do you feel abandoned, Chikane-chan," A voice called out behind her and she turned to see a girls silhouette behind her.

"You did this to her didn't you," The Himemiya princess yelled accusingly, refusing to let go of the blond body.

There was a light chuckle then, "I bet you wish that was true, no my dear Chikane-chan, you did this. You drove the blade with your own hand."

"I would never!"

The silhouette interrupted her, "But you did! You drove the blade into her with your own hands and ender the life of the one you love! Look at your hands if you want proof."

Doing as she was told, she found a sword now rested in her grasp, blood staining the blade, she was no longer holding the girl but holding the sword that was impaling her, "This is a lie!"

The silhouette was not taken back by Chikane's scream, a far cry from her normal cool demeanor, "You may wish for that to be so but you know it's not. You can feel deep in your soul that you did this."

"I would never do this," Chikane was denying it but feeling defeated, whoever this girl cloaked in shadow was, she was right.

The shadow stepped forward and a red hakama was partially exposed in the light, "You killed her then and now you are abandoning her, abandoning me."

This time the shadow took several steps forward to reveal herself to Chikane, and the dark haired girl realized it was the same girl she was holding in her hands. Looking back to her arms she found only blood and the sword remained, the girl had disappeared. It was too much, she sprang from the bed and sliced at the figure with the sword. It connected but to her dismay it did nothing to the girl.

"I thought you loved me?" Though there was no physical wound it was obvious that one action had caused a larger wound than anything else, "I loved you and now you try to cut me down."

As tears started to form in the blonds eyes, Chikane felt her heart break, "I didn't know, you acted like you wanted me to attack you. I don't understand."

"YOU NEVER LOVED ME! YOU NEVER EVEN LOOKED!" Chikane collapsed as she heard the words.

"That's not true."

The blond took the sword from Chikane's hands and held it by the hilt so the point was right at her throat, "I guess my life was a waste, goodbye Chikane-chan."

With that she drove the blade toward her throat with such speed that Chikane could do little to react. Time slowed as she dove towards the girl in an attempt to stop her, at any cost she would not let this girl throw her life away. Her hand searched for purchase to stop the momentum of the blade, and found only the blade itself. Chikane did not care, she was desperate, her hand clamped down and she wrenched the sword off course with all her will and strength. It was just enough to prevent the girl from impaling her throat in the tip of the blade.

"Stop this! I don't know what's going on but I love you," Chikane paid no heed to her bleeding hand as she tore the sword from the girls grasp and hugged her tight, "I love you, Himeko! I would die before I let anyone harm you. Please never leave, Himeko."

Chikane felt a slow hug embrace her before a voice spoke in her ear, devoid of the cruelty she had heard earlier and containing only love, "Thank you, Chikane-chan, goodbye."

And with that the girl disappeared from her sight, leaving Chikane alone once more and feeling like she wanted to cry until there was nothing left, "Himeko... I'm sorry, please forgive me."

------------------(Gomen nasai.) --------------------------------------

When she woke, it was as if she had never gone to sleep, that was how bad she felt after that nightmare. She was not sweating but there was a sense of loss that remained with her, it was cold like ice and chilled her to the bone. The last time she had a dream like that it was when she had just turned 16, that very night she had a dream of a blond woman laying drenched in her own blood. This dream was different from that one though, it was twisted from reality. The other dream felt like a memory, this one actually felt like a real nightmare, it told her that she had not done the one she loved justice. It told her that she had failed to keep a promise that was very important to her.

It took some time but Chikane eventually got out of bed after straitening her thoughts and was eventually ready to face the world. She did not want to walk to the college today, normally it would be fine but after a dream like that she felt like she needed to take a ride. Picking up the phone in her room she dialed a number and made the arrangements for her driver to pick her up at the front door of the hotel.

She exited the room and made her way downstairs a few minutes later, exiting the hotel and entering the car. Though she knew that the driver would try to question her she gave him a look that, while not menacing, told him she needed quiet. In silence is how they drove for the first twenty minutes, nearing the school as they did so, she had agreed to perform the concert today, early in the morning. Yesterday she had felt positively giddy about it. Since the dream she was feeling less than excited about starting her day in general, let alone playing a concert. Chikane sighed and looked out the window, and her eyes fell on the most beautiful scene she had ever seen. A certain blond haired girl was sitting at a bus stop searching though her purse in a most distraught.

"Stop the car, please," Chikane tried, and failed pretty badly, to keep the excitement out of her voice.

That excited tone was so foreign that the driver forgot himself for a second and did exactly that, without even thinking about it. Unfortunately he was in the middle of road when he did so and almost caused a major accident. Blushing furiously and apologizing out the window of the car he moved the car to the side of the road so he was not blocking traffic. Chikane quickly climbed out of the car and then realized how out of character she was getting and took a deep breath. Her regal self came back to her and she gracefully walked over to the blond haired girl.

Bending at the waist she coughed slightly to get the blonds attention, "You look like you could use a ride," Chikane offered her hand to help the girl stand, "Besides, I have some things to talk to you about."

-----------(Best song EVER!)-------------------------------

First off, I apologize for the little nonsensical phrases to split certain parts, really, pay no attention to them unless you want to see inside my psyche. Second, I read a review of my previous chapter that said the dream made made little sense or something to that effect. I'll attempt to explain, that is precisely what I'm going for in the dreams. They are not "memory" dreams like in the anime but "nightmare" dreams. In other words they are reflecting parts of Himeko and Chikane that they are subconsciously guilty over. In Himeko's case it was the fact that she realized too late who her real love was. In Chikane's case it was the fact that she was so in love with Himeko in her previous life and all but forgot about her after her rebirth. That is the cut and dry, I hope this helps to understand the dream sequences a little better. As always, C&C are welcomed. If you want to flame go ahead but I'm probably going to ignore it anyways.


	3. Forever Waiting, Waiting

A Meeting and A Dream.

A K.N.M. Fan fiction.

I do not own Kannazuki no Miko, this story belongs to me however. Please respect the ideas of myself, and others. Thank you.

NOTE: I'm actually glad everything was cleared up, I'm not sure if I will do any more separate point of view chapters. The first two I did that way because it was important to me that the two of them told their feelings. Things should progress smoothly without overlapping from now on.

Chapter 3: Forever Waiting, Waiting.

The car was nice, spacious inside especially for Japan, and the seats were made from real leather in a perfect tan color. The smell was slightly sweet inside indicating some kind of air freshener being used that was not one of the overpowering fir tree ones you find in a local convenience store. It was the nicest car Kurusugawa Himeko had been in, which was not saying much truthfully as she had never been in anything more luxurious than a ten year old Toyota with fake leather seats, the smell of cigarettes, and faded white paint. Still, the blond knew how to appreciate the level of luxury that was the car she was currently riding in by staying completely in awe.

"Do you like it?" Himemiya Chikane could not help but let a small grin adorn her face as she looked at her companions reaction, she was too adorable.

Himeko looked over at her suddenly, almost startled, she was probably being a little too obvious, "I, um, really like it. It's nice."

Chikane had to take in a deep breath, everything about this girl screamed for her to wrap her arms around the blond and hold her close. It was an alien feeling to the dark haired girl for she was convinced that she could truly not feel love. Being born into high society had its perks but it also made one jaded to the world around them. This was different though, Himeko was not trying to suck up to her because she was rich and powerful, she was simply being honest. It was a rare find in anybody these days, Chikane knew the blond was a jewel that she would never let go of. Still it would do no good to move to fast with something like this. This meeting was to get information not to start a love tryst between the two, no matter how Chikane wanted it to be so.

"I'm glad," The dark haired girl fixed her sapphire eyes in Himeko's amethyst colored ones, "I'm Himemiya Chikane, I believe we met yesterday for the first time."

"Kurusugawa Himeko," The blond responded and blushed slightly at the second part, "That's right."

"It looks like you were in a tight spot there," Chikane remarked, "You're lucky I was headed to the same school as you were. What do you do there anyways?"

The blond had seen those blue eyes, like endless oceans, and almost became hypnotized, "I take pictures, I mean study photography," Himeko wanted to kick herself, she was in the lap of luxury and she was talking about something as boring as pictures.

"That sounds nice, you must really like it," Chikane was genuinely interested on her part, "Do you do people or landscapes pieces?"

"Mostly people, it depends on my class assignment though," Himeko was feeling kind of nervous, "Today I'm supposed to take a picture of a famous pianist during a concert along with the rest of the class. It's a mid-term assignment so I'm kind of nervous."

Chikane took a breath at that , it could not possibly be... "So you don't know who the pianist is."

Himeko shook her head and looked slightly embarrassed, "I'm not very good with names so I most likely just forgot."

_How could you forget, Himeko?_ Chikane mentally chided the young woman.

"Did you just transfer here?" Himeko asked, slightly hopefully, she wanted the girl to say yes because that would mean that they would have more time to spend together.

"I'm only here on business," Chikane knew this would probably be a bad avenue to take the conversation down but she let that one piece of information go as punishment for not remembering her name.

Himeko looked down with sadness evident on her face, "I see, so I probably won't see you again."

Chikane felt an overwhelming need to take the conversation ANYWHERE else but here, "Well there's no saying for sure... Anyways, do you live with someone or are you alone?"

"I live alone most of the time," the blond girl commented, "I have a room mate but she usually crashes at other people's houses after going out in town.

"Must not be doing very good in school," It was and absent comment but it received a strange reaction from the blond, almost as if she had choked on something.

"I, um, actually, we're in the the same class," Himeko started to looked down so Chikane could not see her embarrassment, "and, well, um, she really is doing better than me," She spit the last part out as quickly and softly as she could hoping that it would not be heard.

Unfortunately, being the gifted musician that she was, Chikane's ears were very skilled at hearing small changes such as this, "That's no good, Himeko, are you saying you're not good at taking pictures? Why would you join the class then?"

"No, I'm good," Himeko denied, before once again lamenting, "At least I think I am, the problem is that I can't seem to concentrate on the knowledge side. The practical is different, I would probably pass if that was all it was."

Something confused Chikane and she questioned Himeko further about the mid-term, "If your fine with the practical, what are you so nervous about the mid-term for?"

"Taking the pictures is no big deal," Himeko admitted, "It's just that afterwards I have to do a short interview with the pianist. Normally it would be out the question with a big class but this one is only about ten people. I'm kind of shy, so I don't interview people well."

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Chikane smiled knowingly, this young woman was hopeless, "It looks like we're here, so regretfully I'll have to take my leave. Let's get together after school is over though."

Himeko would have liked nothing more, but other matters demanded her attention, "Actually I have to work."

Chikane could not help but feel disappointed but kept pressing, "I see, I'll give you my number then so you can call me after you get off."

"Thank you," Himeko said as she waited for the young woman to write her number down and took it before she exited the car, "Thank you for the ride."

"Any time," Chikane said.

"Lady Chikane," The driver spoke up after the blond had disappeared, "May I be allowed to offer one word of humble advice."

The dark haired girl turned and looked into the mirror, "As long as it's quick."

"Hold on to that one," The old man opened one of his squinted eyes wide and looked at her with a small smile on his face, "I get the feeling she's almost tired of waiting."

While she was slightly confused by the words, Chikane nodded, "Thank you, I was planning to do just that."

The old man resumed his squinted looked once again, "That's fine then, would the Lady like to be picked up after you're done?"

"No thank you, I would like to look around the city for a little while," Chikane replied.

The driver nodded slightly, "Very well, Miss Himemiya."

Chikane exited the car then and made her way through the gates and into the school, the concert would not start for a while but she had much to do to set up beforehand. As she entered the concert hall and started her ritual in preparation, Chikane idly wondered if Himeko would be surprised to find out she had ridden to school with the very musician she was supposed to interview later today.

-------------(I want to be... your sledge hammer)--------------------

Himeko was the happiest she had been in a long time, not only had she met the woman she had embraced on the street but that same young woman seemed to like her. It was really all she could hope for considering the circumstances. She was not one to expect something to happen for them to meet up sooner than they had originally planned, but that never stopped her from hoping. The girl placed a smile on her face as she entered the classroom where she studied photography. Truthfully, there were other classes that went into the major, such as math and other general fields of study, but the major itself was hardly difficult. Unless you were someone like Himeko. Unless you were absent minded enough to forget your homework. Himeko's smile left her face and was replaced by one of dread, and here she was so proud of herself for waking up without her roommates help.

"Hey, Himeko," A voice she recognized easily sounded behind her and she turned to see Makoto holding a tan folder in her hands, "How are you this morning?"

The blond looked down at the floor in embarrassment, "I was good until a moment ago."

"Well anyone would feel good coming to school with Himemiya Chikane," Makoto remarked casually with a devilish grin, "They would feel so good they would not realize they forgot their homework, huh roomy?" The last part was said with a sly wink as she handed the folder to Himeko, "You owe me by the way."

Himeko took the folder and looked inside to find that it did indeed contain her homework, "Thank you Makoto, you are a true friend."

"Think nothing of it," The brown haired girl said as she walked over to her own seat while the bell rang.

Himeko joined Makoto in the seat next to her and the teacher entered and started class, the blond trying to pay attention as much as possible. This was not so easy as she had always had trouble paying attention in class, the encounter this morning was not helping either. Sighing in frustration, Himeko shook her head and tried to clear her head of stray thoughts.

"Pst," a girl next to her that was not Makoto tried to quietly get Himeko's attention, "Hey, is it true what Makoto said earlier?"

Himeko looked over and gave a barely discernible nod, "Yeah."

Though the response had been absent minded she did not expect what happened next, "Teacher, this isn't fair."

The teacher stopped speaking at the outburst and looked out over the class at he girl who had made the outburst, "What isn't fair?"

"Himeko already held her interview with the musician," The girl cried in outrage, "She was obviously cheating, she even rode to school with her to get more time for the interview."

Absolute silence shot through the room as realization hit Himeko like a lead ball, her blood ran cold in her veins, "No, I didn't even know it was her."

"How could you not know it was her?" The girl challenged, "Someone that famous, even a commoner like you would know."

Himeko knew the words were meant to hurt her, she tried to stay calm but it was not working as she wanted it to, "That's not true."

Makoto stood suddenly, "So what if she held her interview early, that just means that she took initiative for once. You should be proud of her, teacher."

The teacher looked over at Himeko for a second, "Miss Kurusugawa, you seemed to have disturbed the class quite a bit. Let's go to the office while everyone calms down."

"Yes, teacher," Himeko's happiness had been smashed just as easily as it came.

The blond stood and followed the teacher out of the classroom and down the hall to the teachers lounge. As they entered she saw a man with long teal hair standing there, a calm but stern look on his face as he regarded her. Himeko already knew the man, quite well in fact, for he was the one who had taken her in when she had run away from her abusive father.

Oogami Kazuki, stared at her as she entered.

Himeko knew him to be a gentle yet strict man in his late thirties with wisdom that seemed to be much older than he. He allowed her to live with Makoto because not only was the apartment closer to the school but she insisted on living alone. He had helped her with finances for the school, which he provided from his popular shrine, so she could further her education. Himeko had always found it strange that a priest made so much money. She hardly saw anybody come to the shrine so there could not be all that much money coming in, still he payed for her school and had money left over for his own support. It was possible that there was just a small amount of people that contributed a lot of money but that did not make much sense to her. Then again, they always say never look a gift horse in the mouth, Himeko felt that she would not like what she saw if she did. It was true, there were many mysterious things about the senior Oogami.

The blond tore her thoughts away from the man and focused on the situation at hand, "So what did you call me here for."

Her teacher sat at his desk and folded his hands in front of his face, "I want to know if what that girl said was true."

"For the most part," Himeko could not lie even if she wanted to, she was terrible at it, "But I did not do an interview with her. She only gave me a ride because I missed the bus," On the other hand, clever omission were fine apparently.

"I see," the man leaned back and sighed with his hands now folded on his desk, "That was awfully nice of her, very different from what I've heard of her. I guess even an ice princess has an occasional thawing out."

Himeko felt slightly angered at the accusation but she was nowhere near confident enough for an outburst, "I couldn't tell you why she did it, sir, but I'm telling the truth. She only gave me a ride here, I didn't even know she was the one playing the concert. If you don't believe me ask her yourself."

"I shall do just that, I think," the teacher stood, "I assume you have other classes after the concert is over."

Himeko nodded, "I have a couple more, yes. After than I have to go to my work."

"Hm, I see, well I guess I'll have to wait until the next time I see you," Her teacher smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry, this is just for show, I'm sure none of those girls would believe you. This will keep them from picking on you."

"Thank you, sir," Himeko responded.

"You are dismissed, Kurusugawa-san," The man said and she walked out the door, passing the elder Oogami as she did so."

Closing the door behind her she heard the teacher ask what the priest wanted of him before she walked away and their voices faded. Had she stayed a bit longer she would have heard something that would both unsettle her and anger her. As it was she calmly made her way to the concert hall, stopping only to pick up a notebook and her camera on the way.

--------( insert comment here )------------------------------------

First off I would like to say thank you for the reviews, I appreciate it. Second, I changed the genre just a bit. I figure having the romance come first would do less to turn people off from the story. Just a bit of change. Also, just to make it clear, the Orochi will show up but there will be not battle between the two at the end of the story. Though it is a long ways off I'm guessing that many people who read this expect that to happen, it seems typical of the stories that are not overly fluffy. Remember, those events happened on the two girls **16****th** birthday. Since they are well beyond that in this story those events do not transpire the same as they have in the past. There will still be all the standard KNM fare though, well maybe excluding large mecha, not really 100 sure about that one. Could go either way.


	4. Stay the Night, Fight Your Fate

A Meeting and A Dream.

A K.N.M. Fan fiction.

I do not own Kannazuki no Miko, this story belongs to me however. Please respect the ideas of myself, and others. Thank you.

NOTE: Nothing special to say, except thank you for reading.

Chapter 4: Stay the Night, Fight Your Fate.

To say that Himeko was in a state of absolute bliss would have been like saying ice cream is cold or broken glass is dangerous. The understatement of a lifetime could hardly describe the sound she was hearing emanating from the glossy black grand piano as the young woman's hands danced as if they were involved in a miniature ballet over the keys. The dark haired musician was lit by a single spotlight in front of the audience, a large audience, and yet Himeko felt as though the playing was aimed at her specifically. The sounds danced in here ears and seemed to draw her in as if they were searching for her and tried to draw her towards the woman on stage once they found her.

When the song came to a close, the young woman stood an bowed to a huge round of applause from the huge amount of people gathered in the auditorium. Gracefully she walked forward in her dark blue dress which reached to the ground and took a microphone in her hands. Politely she cleared her throat quietly into the microphone and bowed gratefully to the crowd before straitening again.

"Thank you very much for gathering here today," Chikane said as she smiled to the crowed, "I'm glad to meet all of you. I have just one more song to play, but before that happens there is a subject I would like to address first. It has been brought to my attention that a young woman who rode with me this morning," Himeko could see the dark haired woman glance at her for a second and her heart leapt, "Normally this would be no problem, but it seems that whoever started the rumor has included me in it as well. I would like everyone here to remember this, who I give rides to has nothing to do with my personal life. I would also like whoever did this to apologize to the young woman in question after class for making false accusations. With that out of the way please enjoy the next song, it will be the last one for the day and it will also be my first time attempting to sing in front of a live audience. Please allow me to treat you all to this melody."

Her speech being over with, Chikane sat at her piano and after a deep calming breath she placed her hands on the ivory keys of the piano and struck the first note. It resonated for a while through the crowed before the woman hit the second note, slightly higher, and waited as the sound reverberated the same way. Then she began to sing as the song picked up pace to from a coherent piece in everyones ears.

_I meet you beneath the cherry tree,_

_In a cloud of falling blossoms you stand._

_Such a lovely sight for me to behold,_

_as you gaze into the distant sky._

_I would give my life for your happiness,_

_I would give my heart for just a little of-_

_What you show me today._

_You are such a lovely sight to behold,_

_as you gaze into the distant sky._

_And at that moment I love everything about you,_

_for you are what I have been searching for._

_You are such a lovely sight to behold,_

_as you gaze into the distant sky,_

_surrounded by red roses,_

_I share my love._

Chikane ended the song with one last prolonged low note and the crowed burst out of their seats, drowning out any chance the young woman may have had to make a follow-up speech. Blue eyes gazed out at the crowed as she felt pure joy, especially as they met joyful amethyst eyes. She only hoped that Himeko had interpreted the true meaning of the words from the young woman that was the target of her affection. It was a major hint she was putting out to the blond young woman, one that she would only relate with if she knew of the dreams which Chikane had of her. Dreams of secret meetings in rose bushes, the two of them ate lunch and shared their worries with each other.

Himeko had received the message loud and clear, though she was still afraid of actually following through with it. She knew the status of the Himemiya princess at the very least and that was enough for her to tread carefully around her. The blond stood to lose far less from such a relationship than Chikane ever would, and that alone made her worry. Assuming the interview later was one that they would be alone for she would talk to the dark haired girl about her fears. Something in the back of Himeko's mind worried her though, like how Chikane had known her favorite area to rest was under a rose bush encased cherry tree in the courtyard behind her school building.

People were starting to file out of their seats and chatting with one another as they walked awkwardly into the isle in order to exit the theater. As Himeko joined them she felt Makoto tap her on the shoulder and the girl motioned for the blond to follow her as they exited. When they got outside the theater, the two of them headed for a private area off to the side and Makoto looked around to make sure nobody would overhear them.

"So how did it go?"

Himeko blinked, then realized that the brown haired girl was asking about the meeting with the teacher, "He said he would only punish me lightly, only because he thought I would be bullied by those girls if he didn't."

"I see," Makoto looked down at the ground, "I'm sorry, Himeko, I never thought that what I said would cause you trouble like that."

"Makoto," the blond softly trailed off before shaking her head, "No, it wasn't your fault, I put myself in that situation. For all I know they could have just seen me getting out of the car with her," Himeko knew this was not how it happened but tried to spare her friend the pain.

"I know that's not what happened," So much for trying to cheer her up, "She asked you about it right before she accused you."

"That may be true," The blond acknowledged, "But I know you did not have that kind of intention, we are friends. That girl acted on her own, sometimes... sometimes this stuff happens. Please don't blame yourself, it makes me feel bad."

Makoto smiled slightly at that, "Okay, thank you Himeko."

With their conversation finished, Makoto walked off towards the back stage area to wait for her chance to do the interview. They had taken pictures during the show, but they also needed a few after the show. Himeko was about to follow when she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see a stern faced girl, the one who had accused her earlier, standing in front of her. For a second the blond thought the girl was going to confront her about the speech Chikane had made earlier. However, the stern expression changed to a slight smile.

"Hey, sorry about earlier," The girl remarked, "It's not that I dislike you. I want to make that clear, I think we could be friends in fact, I was just worried about the mid-term and took out my frustration on you. I'm sorry about that."

Himeko blinked but hesitantly nodded, "Thank you, I'm sorry if I got you in any trouble because of that. It's true that I didn't know who she was though."

"Relax, I believe you," The girl said, "I have to be going now. You should get going soon if you want to make the interview."

Himeko nodded, but waited a few minutes before following after the girl just to make sure nothing was going to happen. The apology seemed genuine enough but Himeko had been bullied enough to know that caution was the better part of valor in this case. It was not a surprise to her that when she arrived later, everyone else had already left the room. Himeko just hoped that this did not include the musician she had to interview, for more reasons than just her photography project. Hesitantly the girl knocked on the door and turned the door knob to enter. What she found on the other side made her just about feint in embarrassment. Chikane stood dressed only in thigh high socks, and her bra and underwear. She seemed just as shocked as Himeko. The blond excused herself with a deep blush and exited immediately, she could feel her heart racing as she stood with her back against the door. For a second, Himeko questioned whether she was actually a pervert, that had been so sexy that she almost lost control of herself.

"You can come in now," She heard Chikane from the other side of the door and entered once more.

Himeko was almost disappointed by the fact that the girl was fully dressed but shook the thought from her head, "I'm sorry about that, if I had shown up earlier that would never have happened."

Chikane sat down in a chair and looked at Himeko coolly, an expression that the blond was not use to in the least from the girl, "If you had arrived earlier I wouldn't have worried that you abandoned me."

Himeko froze at that, her heart leapt into her throat and she barely managed to choke out her next words, "I, um, ah, you see, there was this thing with a girl..."

Chikane raised an eyebrow, "A girl, huh? Just what kind of thing was it."

The blond felt her grip tighten on the camera, her knuckles whitening, "It was nothing, I just talked about the incident earlier. That's it."

Chikane looked away, "I wonder."

This was not right, Himeko could feel herself loosing her grip on reality, "I really didn't betray you."

"Betray me?" Chikane looked at the girl again, "Am I accusing you of such a thing?"

"It seemed like it," Himeko said quietly.

Chikane stood and walked towards the young woman, "Should something give me a reason to think you betrayed me?"

Himeko shook her head, "Of course not, I mean, I don't even know how I really feel about you. I don't know how you feel about me."

"Perhaps I should make it clear then," Chikane walked forward a little more and placed her hands on the girls shoulders.

Himeko blushed, "Um, Chikane-chan?"

The dark hair woman smiled, she absolutely loved when Himeko called her that, "Yes."

"That song, the last one," Himeko turned an even deeper shade of red, "I could be wrong, I probably am, but it seemed like you were singing it too me directly."

Chikane could hold it no longer, it felt as if she had been holding back for so long, "I was singing to you," The young woman embraced Himeko, even though she told herself she would not force the relationship.

"Chikane... chan."

"I'm sorry, Himeko, I may be moving too fast but I can hold back no longer," Chikane held the girl tighter, "I will understand if you don't want to see me again. I just couldn't hold back."

Himeko closed her eyes and returned the embrace, "In a way I understand how you feel," Himeko said softly, enjoying the feeling of the other woman, "I have been holding back for one person, saving myself, and finally I have found the person I've been searching for. I feel like I want to cry from happiness."

Chikane whispered softly in her ear, "It's alright, my dear Himeko, let it out. I will support you no matter what happens. I'm here for you as long as you wish me to be here."

Himeko did as she was told and let her tears flow, "I'm glad, I never want you to leave me, I don't think I could take it if you did."

"If that is what you wish then that is how it shall be," Chikane responded.

It took a while for Himeko to calm herself enough to stop crying but she never let go of Chikane while the two of them were together. Even as they sat down, the dark haired girl preferred to have the blond sit on her lap so that they could be as close as possible. It was so comfortable that Himeko very nearly fell asleep until she was brought back to the conscious world by a light kiss on her neck.

"I understand how you feel," Chikane remarked with humor evident in her voice, "But you still have a task to accomplish here, and then there's school and your job. We can catch up later, but I would feel bad for interfering in your life when you're obviously trying hard to succeed."

Himeko stirred and looked over her shoulder into the blue eyes of her love, "I'm worried."

"Worried people don't fall asleep on the laps of others," Chikane said with a low chuckle.

The blond blushed but continued, "What if... what if everyone else finds out about this? Won't it hurt you, I mean not everyone can accept our... relationship."

"Should I care?" Chikane became serious, "People don't plan who they fall in love with, even if other people judge me it won't hurt me because I'm not ashamed of who I am. If the public view dictated my actions I would have quit being a musician long ago."

"But-" Himeko was interrupted by a slim finger on her lips.

"Hush, you have an interview to worry about," Chikane remarked, "As I've said, we'll talk more about us later tonight."

Himeko agreed and the two of them turned to the business of their interview for the next half hour, never leaving the others side. Too quickly the interview was finished and Himeko took her photos before she hesitantly excused herself, not really wanting to leave but knowing she had to. As she exited the room and closed the door softly behind her she saw a familiar teal haired figure standing in front of her with a look that was even more grim than usual. His arms were folded in his robes in front of him and his eyes bore into the blond haired girl.

"Kurusugawa-san," The man spoke in a commanding voice, "I certainly hope you know what you're doing. In any case the two of you are to visit my temple this weekend, I have many important things to discuss with the two of you."

Himeko blanched slightly, "I, um, I'm not sure what you mean."

"Just come to the temple," Oogami Kazuki remarked, "There will be one other person there also, this concerns all three of you. And don't worry about school, I have talked to your teacher and the head master to get you the next week off."

"I understand," The girl said finally, "I'll be there, as long as Chikane-chan is there also."

Kazuki raised an eyebrow at the honorific but said nothing, "Very well."

Himeko watched the man gracefully depart before heading to her next class, it was not far away and the schedule had moved to right to accommodate the concert. The blond walked to her next class, the rest of the day passing as it normally did. The whole time she was in school and at her job she could not help but think about the meeting with Chikane. It had gone as she expected, well better than she had expected actually. There were many things the young woman had told her that allowed Himeko to see the more personal side of her dark haired princess. Chikane was born into a wealthy, loving, family that smothered her to the point that she wanted to rebel. The blond sighed internally, it would have been nice if she was born into the same kind of life. It would have been nice if she had just had a father who had treated her as more than a servant. Even better if she could have escaped the pain when she made a mistake. Oh well, this was hardly about her life as it was, Himeko had left that past behind her and decided to start new. Right now the new start involved getting to know enough about Chikane that she could submit a nice report and have a chance of passing her class. What she had received from the interview was more than she expected. The girl knew how to answer questions without giving too much away and this helped Himeko greatly in writing without getting too intimate. She was so caught up thinking about the interview that she did not notice that she was humming happily the whole time she was at work. Her voice caused Makoto to stare at her in confusion but she kept her thoughts to herself.

As Himeko went on her break, she took out her cell phone and dialed Chikane's number, "Hello," The voice on the other side of the phone answered.

"Um, Chikane-chan?"

The voice seemed happy when she heard Himeko speak, "Oh, hi, I'm glad you called. I was actually wondering if you would like to spend the night at my apartment."

The blond felt her heart soar as she heard the words, "I would like that. Very much."

Chikane smiled on the other end of her phone, "Good, I'll have my driver pick you up when you get off work then. What time do you wish him to arrive."

Himeko thought for a second, "I get off around seven but it takes me a while to change, so probably around seven thirty. It's the Lucky Shot picture studio."

"Alright, my driver will be there, he knows the area well so you don't have to worry about directions," Chikane said as she lowered her voice for the next part, "And Himeko..."

"Yes."

"I miss you," Chikane said.

Himeko smiled, "I miss you also, Chikane-chan."

-------------------------(Layven!)--------------------------------------

Well, this chapter is finally finished, hope you enjoy it. It will replace my intermission, which will be placed under the same name as the chapter but separate from the main story. I realized after I wrote it that while it was a breath of fresh air it had no place being part of this story. It's not even related to it. Thank you for the continued support, the next chapter is on it's way, though it probably won't be as fast as the previous ones. Hopefully it won't be too much of a wait.


	5. Stay the Night, Fight Your Fate Part 2

A Meeting and A Dream.

A K.N.M. Fan fiction.

I do not own Kannazuki no Miko, this story belongs to me however. Please respect the ideas of myself, and others. Thank you.

NOTE: So you may have been confused about the way I released the story earlier, all I can say is sorry. From now on if I do an interlude I will be sure to split it apart from the main story.

Chapter 5: Stay the Night, Fight Your Fate (Part 2).

"Does the young Miss require anything before heading over to the apartment complex?" Himeko heard the driver ask as she rode inside the expensive car.

"I'm not sure," Himeko admitted, "Probably clothes but other than that I have no idea."

The driver responded with, "Well the apartment has everything you could need to live with, and those things that it does not have Miss Chikane can easily provide. The Miss is quite anxious to see you by the way, you've done a wonderful thing."

"No, I didn't do anything that amazing," Himeko denied, "I'm not that special."

The car came to a stop and the driver turned for a brief moment to say, "Ma'am, I know you see yourself as worthless to others but you are more special than you could ever imagine."

"What?"

"Sorry, forget I said that," The driver was looking forward once again, "Just try to forget about your troubles and be happy, not only for your sake but for Lady Chikane's sake as well."

Himeko nodded, "I'll try. By way, why are we stopped in front of my apartment?"

"So the lady can pick up her clothes," The driver said, "Lady Chikane told me where you live, hurry now."

Himeko nodded and exited the car, returning a half an hour later when she finished packing her clothes. The driver released the trunk and exited to help her place the suitcase she was carrying in the back and close the trunk once again. The two of them entered the car and made their way towards the apartment where Chikane lived. It did not take long as it was close to the school, though in a part of town that was a little more upscale than Himeko was used to. The car pulled up in front and an expensive looking hotel and men dressed in expensive uniforms opened the door and took Himeko's luggage out of the back of the car. They even took her hand to help her exit the car. The blond felt like she had just entered another world, one that she had been denied for a very long time, it was strange and exciting at the same time.

"Miss Kurusugawa Himeko?" A man in who she assumed was the manager of the staff came up to her, "I will send one of the staff with you to help you find Miss Himemiya's room. She has insisted that once we show her to your room you will be left to her care. The staff will help you in any way they can."

She was taken to an elevator while one of the staff took her bags and led the way, she was amazed at the sheer numb of floors. It was as if the whole of a small neighborhood had been transplanted into a vertical shaft of glass and concrete. Himeko rode the elevator up to the 16th floor where the elevator stopped and the door opened. She was showed to a room where the staff member opened a door with a key card before handing it to her. He bowed low from the waist and strode off quickly. Himeko entered the room and looked around, taking in the clean look and the fresh smell. It was a far cry from the dirty run down rooms in Himeko's complex, it made her feel like she was living in a slum.

The blond heard the shower running and decided to at least enter and sit down. The television was already on and the blond decided to make herself at home. Setter her suitcase down and relaxing in one of the soft leather chairs the girl sighed.

"Today there was an explosion just minutes from a nearby college, there were no witnesses to what happened but those who were close said they saw a large man running from the scene minutes after the incident. In other news..."

Himeko closed her eyes, she had been more tired than usual lately, and she started to allow herself to relax for the first time in a while. As she did the shower shut off and Himeko opened her eyes to see Chikane walk out minutes later in a light blue bathrobe. Her hair was still damp as she used a towel to lightly continue to dry some of the slightly damp strands of hair.

"Chikane-chan," Himeko gasped, "I knew you were rich but to be able to afford a place like this..."

The woman frowned, "It's horrible."

"What?"

"I love you, I thought maybe you would understand how difficult this is," Chikane finished drying her hair and made her way to the kitchen, still speaking, "I guess it was really too much to hope for. Anyone would be awed by this kind of hotel. That's exactly the reason I originally wanted to stay in a slightly less glamorous hotel."

Himeko blinked, "But why, this place is amazing."

Chikane walked back in with two glasses of wine, "Would you like some?"

"Um, I've never even drank alcohol," Himeko admitted with a blush, "Is that strange."

"Considering most people drink to relax I think it just means you are not overstressed," Chikane replied as she studied the young woman for a second, "Continuing with the previous conversation, you are right, this place is amazing. Have you ever thought of what it would be like to have everything handed to you though? The hardest thing you have to work for is maintaining your composure in front of stuck up old people, countless "parties" with the same number of fake smile."

Himeko looked at Chikane sympathetically, "I always thought you had everything you ever wanted."

"I don't have you," The dark haired woman remarked as she sat back in a couch more in front of the television and just to the side of where Himeko was sitting and looked out the window, "And as you pointed out, it is much harder for me to be with you due to my status."

"I thought it didn't bother you," Himeko glanced suspiciously at the red colored liquid in the clear, curved glass.

Chikane gave a small laugh, it was not one that she made because it was funny, it was bitter, "I did say that, did I not, but you know how you sometimes say something but think more about it later on? Well that is what happened to me, but despite how it sounds I'm not worried about myself."

Himeko finally decided to take a sip of the red colored rich alcohol, Chikane's glass was already more than half gone, she swallowed it and winced slightly, "Who are you worried about?"

By this time Chikane was sitting on the couch with her head tilted to the side and resting on the back of the couch, her legs folded under her and both of her hands folded around the base of the wine glass, "You."

Himeko took another sip and swallowed, liking the next taste a bit more than the first, "I don't know what you mean, if someone finds out I'll be a footnote in the paper compared to you."

"To the paper you are unimportant," Chikane said, "But to me you are the only person I wish to spend the rest of my life with. If something like that happens it will tear us apart, my parents will insist on me moving in with them, probably in some far off country. If this turns into a scandal we will be torn apart."

"I'll follow you," Himeko figured the alcohol was starting to hit her now since she had no tolerance for it, why else would she have said something like that, she knew she could never do something like that.

Chikane watched as the blond woman finished her drink and poured them both more before continuing, "You're sweet, Himeko, but you know as well as I do that it would be impossible."

The blond took a large drink of the wine, it seemed she was a closet lush, "So you're saying we should just give up? I won't do it, never, I won't be parted from you again! Not now, not in our next life, not ever!"

Chikane let her eyes widen as she saw the drink Himeko took before she sighed, "You're getting drunk, you're suppose to sip the wine not gulp it."

Himeko gulped the rest of the drink down before leaping out of the chair to land on top of Chikane, spilling wine on the two girls and the couch, "Who cares, that's your problem Chikane-chan, you're too restricted by rules. You need to loosen up a little, come on, release all of that stress."

Rolling her eyes and setting the wine down, Chikane grabbed the blond girl and held her fast, "I should have known this was a bad idea when you said you had never had alcohol before. Let's get you out of these clothes before they stain, you go take a shower and I'll clean up the mess you made."

"Will you come with me, Chikane-chan?" Himeko was definitely drunk now, "Pretty, pretty, please."

"No, go take a shower or I'll have to make the little girl sit in the corner," Chikane knew that the only way to get through to the girl now was to be a strict mother figure.

Himeko looked heart broken, and for a second Chikane was about to take back her words, fortunately the blond saved her the trouble, "Fine, I'll do it, but don't expect me to like it."

As she watched the blond disappear into the bathroom, Chikane started to clean the mess thinking that she would never again give Himeko alcohol. In the bathroom, meanwhile, Himeko was busy taking a hot shower and realizing as her mind cleared, after a while, what she had done. Either because of the alcohol or an enormous amount of will power, most likely the alcohol though, she prevented herself from blushing until she feinted. Though she never drank there were some basics she had know, one was that if you drink without food in your stomach alcohol effects you faster. She had been in such a hurry to get over here she had forgotten to eat. Two, if you drink little or no alcohol it will hit you hard. She had already admitted she never drank. Himeko sighed as she rinsed the shampoo out of her hair and shut off the water.

"Himeko," Chikane called from the other side of the door, "I'm going to make some food, go ahead and relax on the couch when you finish, theres an extra robe in there If you want it."

The blond looked towards the door, "Alright, I'm just finishing up. Sorry for earlier."

On the other side of the door Chikane stood there expressionless, "It's okay, what's done is done. I should have used better judgment."

There was an old Japanese saying for times like that, karma is karma, Himeko wrapped the bathrobe around herself, "I suppose that's true."

She had said it out loud to herself in order to cheer herself up, but as she did she realized something about the situation they were in. The whole time they had been together, Chikane had never fixed a gaze at her, always looking somewhere far away. At first Himeko had thought that the young woman had decided to go back to being friends. Even the way she was talking earlier had cemented Himeko's fears. Now that her head was starting to clear though she felt overwhelmingly stupid for making that kind of an assumption. As the blond finished drying her long hair she realized she had been very selfish so far tonight. That would change over dinner, her determination strengthened as her will hardened and the alcohol started to run its course out of her body. Himeko opened the door and exited into the living area of the apartment.

"Chikane-chan," The blond called from just outside the bathroom.

She heard the dark haired woman respond from the kitchen area, "What is it?"

"Where did you put my suitcase?"

"I put it in the bedroom," The woman answered, "unfortunately the wine ruined the clothes you were wearing, we'll go shopping tomorrow to buy new ones."

"Okay," Himeko acknowledged before walking into the bedroom and finding a casual outfit to wear before exiting back into the living room area. She knew they were probably not going out the rest of the night as it was pretty late and most places that did not involve demoralizing yourself were closed. She found Chikane setting up a small table, the meal obviously finished. With a smile, Himeko waved to her and she smiled back but the blond could tell it was too absent to really be meant. For a second the woman with amethyst eyes wondered if her companion was even aware, judging from the slightly distracted look Himeko seriously doubted it.

Once the table was finished being set up, the two sat down and started eating. At first there was silence between the two before Himeko finally decided she could take no more. She paused and looked at Chikane, who was ignoring most of what was happening around her, including Himeko.

"Please look at me, Chikane-chan," Himeko said not unkindly, "You've been distracted all day, which is fine, but it hurts me when you act like I'm not here. It's almost like... like you don't... like me anymore."

The shocked look on the young womans face was enough to make Himeko mentally applaud herself. She had meant the words with every bit of her being, it was just a bonus that it actually made it through the strong wall of the dark haired young woman. Slowly Chikane stopped eating and it was then that Himeko saw a look that none had been able to see on the Himemiya princess. Shame, it showed throughout the girls body and seemed to permeate the air.

"I hurt you," Chikane closed her eyes and started to rise but a soft hand held her in place, it wordlessly begged her to stay, "Why, after I hurt you like that?"

Himeko spoke softly, "Your wrong, Chikane-chan, it is I who hurt you. Since I arrived here I was so wrapped up in my own happiness that I failed to see that something was bothering you. Please sit and maybe we can figure out how to fix the problem. We should never keep anything from each other, don't keep your problems from me. It's not fair for only me to be happy. I don't want that," Himeko paused as the woman sat once again, "I want to share all my feelings with you, and I want you to do the same. You are strong, I hope to be as strong as you some day, but no person is an island. You have to let me in."

Blue eyes just started at the blond girl, "Himeko... I'm sorry."

"I'm at fault also, I was selfish, I'm a horrible person-"

"No you're-"

"Let me finish, please! I want to change so that I don't burden you," Himeko finished quickly as she sensed another denial on her companions lips, "Don't deny it, you know as well as I do that if there was trouble right now you would worry too much about me to protect yourself. That's why I hope to become stronger. I doubt I'll ever be as strong as you but this is something I have to do."

Chikane stared at the girl before sighing with a shake of her head, "I will admit you got my attention," the dark haired woman smiled finally, a genuine smile for the first time that night, "For you to act like this, my normally reserved angel, I must have put you though a lot. Alright, I accept your proposal. Just do me one favor, if you ever feel scared or in danger just run away. I won't throw my life away but that means you can't either. Promise me."

Himeko nodded, "I promise, Chikane-chan."

The rest of the evening progressed smoothing, very much more cheerfully than it had before the two had their talk. Chikane and Himeko ate the food greedily but never compromised their manners for the sake of the hunger they felt. For the record, the dark haired girl could cook basic meals as it was one of her requirements for being a lady. Her mother would die before she would let the young women get married without being able to cook at least a simple meal for her husband. Not that it would happen now, there was no way she would betray Himeko that way, not now and not ever. They finished their dinner and the both of them picked up their food, the blond insisting that she help even if Chikane insisted that she did not.

The dishes clean and the table cleared the two decided it was time to retire to bed. Chikane changed into a nightgown while Himeko changed into her pajamas. There was some embarrassment at the fact that they had to sleep in the same bed but that was quickly overshadowed by the desire to be close. Himeko started just laying next to Chikane on the mattress and staring at the ceiling until the dark haired woman rolled over and clasped her arms around the blond. Himeko gratefully accepted the embrace and turned to look the person she loved in the face.

"Chikane-chan is soft and warm," Himeko commented as she closed her eyes and buried her face in the girls chest, "I feel safe, you'll always be with me won't you?"

The dark haired girl placed her chin on top of the blonds head and drew her even closer as she closed her eyes, "Of course. This trip was only for two weeks but I've decided I'm going to find a place to live around here. If you want we can live together," Chikane gave the girl a deep kiss on the lips before returning her head to it's original place on her head, "I would enjoy that very much I think."

Himeko nodded as much as she could with her head buried as it was, "I would like that too. Won't people be suspicious of us though. As you've said I'm in such a different social class, they would know right away."

"Talk of those things later, my love," Chikane wanted to just enjoy her blond angels warmth, "For now we can live in the present. No past, no future, just the two of us in the now."

"Chikane-chan..."

"What is it my Himeko?"

The girl blushed a little, "Would it be okay for me to kiss you?"

With a smile the dark haired girl nodded, "Do so all you wish."

Himeko bent her head towards Chikane and places her soft pink lips on Chikane's, the two locked in an embrace that had them idly exploring one another's bodies. What followed afterwards had the two of them gasping and sweating in a world that was only made for the two of them. It lasted for hours before the two of them collapsed on top of each other in a vision of white passion that temporarily robbed the two of them of every ounce of strength they possessed. The two young women quickly drifted off to sleep, entangled in one another's arms.

---------------------(I have a dream. Actually they do.)---------------------------

Himeko looked across a shrine, across a shining blade which she held, into the eyes of the one person she would love now and forever. It was wrong what they were doing but somehow their bodies were moving against their will. At least hers was, always evading and blocking but never trying to attack the other person. There were small cuts where blood welled up and flowed slowly against her skin. Her breath was ragged and her legs could barely keep standing. She did not want this to happen yet she felt helpless to stop the fight, she only knew one way that would keep this game from continuing. In the next instant as her loved moved to attack her, the blond dropped her guard. She wanted to with all her will, at least, but her body kept moving to defend herself. She screamed to stop but nothing worked, nothing went through to her body. The voice of the girl she loved came out and finally, as if in slow motion, her body moved to attack. As her sword slashed and stabbed a small pink seashell necklace flew, and then there was a crimson spray as blood escaped through a sword wound. Himeko screamed at the sight, but her body did not react, and it was then that she knew that this was not a dream. This had really happened. Tears escaped from the blonds eyes as she watched the body across from her sink to the ground.

Chikane felt the pain as her body was run through with the sword, familiar and all too real for her to write off as a simple dream. The sword in her hand dropped, then her body followed, she saw Himeko run over to her and she knew suddenly what had happened, and why it had happened. A bitter smile escaped her lips as she watched the blond girl embrace her, trying to talk some sense into her.

_I loved her deeply even back then_, Chikane thought to herself, _yet I was so cruel and selfish._

Himeko's last look was at the blood body of her love before her vision started to change back towards the present. If it was the last thing she did, that scene would never come to pass, not for either of them, Himeko would make sure both of them lived.

----------------------(Dream end!)------------------------------

Waking up, Himeko found that it was still dark and Chikane was awake looking towards her with the eyes of one that showed concern. From that look the blond knew that Chikane had just been through the same scene she had only from the opposite point of view. It was a memory of the past that had once been, in some long ago place that had erased itself from their thoughts.

"Himeko," Chikane said after a while, "Are you scared of me?"

The blond was silent for a while, thinking, then finally, "No. I understand, I always understood, why you did that. I didn't like it but there was nothing I could do. One thing about you, Chikane-chan, once you make up your mind it won't be changed by anyone."

Chikane smiled, "I guess you're right, I don't blame you for what you did either. It was what my past self wanted. I gave you one choice, I would not kill you, I knew that, but at the time you did not. You were surviving, and that was what my goal had been all along. I just wish that I had not done it in such a cruel way."

"It matters little," Himeko said, "Remember, you were the one who said to live in the present."

"I guess that's true," Chikane admitted, "Now how about we get back to sleep, my angel."

Himeko closed her eyes, "Sounds good to me... Princess."

-------------------------(IT'S OVER!)----------------------------

To say I'm not relieved this chapter is over would be a lie. I don't hate it but I had the idea for point A and point C only. One I came up with point B I had trouble tying it all together. Anyways, this will probably be revisited after chapter six to see if I still like how it flows. This was suppose to be, at least a little, where everything starts to change for the two. I have decided not to put the huge robot fights in because they barely had relevance in the original anime, let alone a follow up. I mean it was like they handed the script to a different person halfway through the series. I was going for a lot of sweet/sour Chikane and Himeko action here. I hope I balanced it well enough. As for the dream sequence... Uh, I will admit right now that I forgot exactly how it went and replayed it from memory. As such things may not be totally accurate. I also accidentally deleted my Kannazuki no Miko episodes (damn me and my good conscience). Chapter 6 will be up soon, and as I hinted it will probably be the start of all the more difficult times for the girls. I am still trying to keep this from being too depressing though. Angst gets old after a certain point.


	6. Priestesses of the Awakening

A Meeting and A Dream.

A K.N.M. Fan fiction.

I do not own Kannazuki no Miko, this story belongs to me however. Please respect the ideas of myself, and others. Thank you.

NOTE: Nothing of importance. The following contains a bit more angst that my previous chapters so be careful as you read. I figure I could afford it after all the fluff in the previous chapter.

Chapter 6: Priestesses of the Awakening.

Chikane was happy, for once in her life she was truly happy with how her everything had turned out. The money that everyone sought and the worrying about status were gone. All that mattered now as the girl laying next to her. The beautiful blond young woman with closed sleeping eyes and content breathing, her soft hair spread out and intertwining with Chikane's own so it looked at if they were trying to become one. The hair seemed to be trying to do what they had done last night. Her dark hair, a strange deep blue color that seemed unnatural to her, was a mess but for once in her life she cared very little about her appearance. All she cared about was her life with her angel, her love, the one person who could possibly understand what she felt. Right now she felt as if the whole world could go to hell in a hand basket before she would leave the side of the woman she was in bed with. All of her worries about how she knew what she did about the girl had been thrown out the window, even the dream, no, memory she had witnessed was gone from her mind.

When she saw the blond open her eyes, she cared even less about the world outside, she would never leave the girl. Even if the whole universe went to hell, nothing would keep her and Himeko apart. This she vowed silently to herself.

"You stayed with me," Himeko said with a smile, "I'm glad but don't you have important business."

It was true that the concert was not the only reason she had come to this city, there was official business matters she had to take care of, nothing that could not wait though, "You ask me to leave the side of my angel after what happened last night? You ask the impossible, dear."

The blond moaned, quite seductively in Chikane's opinion, and rolled towards the dark haired woman, "Good, because I'm never letting anyone have my princess."

It had made her mad before, that term, but now Chikane absolutely adored it, "You were a naughty girl last night, by the way. Have you been tricking me with your shy act all this time?"

Himeko blushed so red that her face seemed totally infused with blood, "That was my first time, I really just did what felt good. Was there something you didn't like?"

"No, but you can't blame all of it on the alcohol," Chikane said with a slightly evil grin, "it would have worn off after all the sweating we did."

"Stop please!" Himeko burst out, "This is embarrassing, Chikane-chan!"

With a chuckle, Chikane kissed the girl lightly on the lips before whispering to her, "Sorry, you're just too cute for me to help myself. If my angel wishes I will stop... For now."

For her part, Himeko was relieved, "Thank you, I don't think I have any blood left to blush with."

"I'll go make some breakfast, would you like coffee or tea," Chikane asked as she rose from the bed, "This place has both and they're pretty good."

Himeko thought for a second, "I like tea. Although it usually depends on if I go for an American or traditional Japanese meal in the morning. Oh well, tea is guaranteed to be good with either."

"Alright, I'll go make it," Chikane announced as she left the room

Himeko rose after her and dressed in the pajama's that were laying at the side of the bed before glancing at the clock and realizing it was ten in the morning. The blond knew that she was supposed to stop by Oogami Kazuki's shrine, not that she wanted to but she could never disobey the man. She was thankful to him and he hardly ever interfered with her life, if it was something that he had to directly become involved in Himeko figured that it had to be important. The question was if Chikane had thought about the man's request. She did not know him as well as Himeko and he had a personality that was not very accommodating to people.

Himeko walked out of the bedroom to the smell of something that was definitely good, though foreign to her. It smelled of flour and eggs. She walked up to stare at the food that was being cooked and blinked. Small round, soft, objects were cooking on the griddle. The blond saw Chikane flip one over to cook the other side and marveled at the golden brown color, they looked simple but delicious at the same time.

"Silver-dollar pancakes," Chikane announced without turning away, "You're about as subtle as a mountain lion, Himeko."

"Well it's not like I was trying to sneak up on you," The blond grumbled cutely, "They just looked good."

With a grin, Chikane flipped one onto a nearby plate, "I couldn't tell."

"I would say sarcasm doesn't suit you, but it would be a lie," Himeko continued to pout, "Meanie."

The dark haired girl finished dishing up the food before turning and sticking her tongue out at the blond, "Bleh, you get none then, Miss Attitude."

"That's not fair, you're the one making fun of me," Himeko folded her arms over her chest.

Chikane placed the plate of pancakes on the table and walked up to Himeko, "Hey, I'm joking, I made these for you after all."

The blond stared at the food before she grinned, the grinned turned into a chuckle and the chuckle became a full blown laugh, "Why are you laughing?"

Calming and taking a deep breath, Himeko sighed, "I'm being an idiot, getting mad over a little joking around. I guess I was just uncomfortable."

Chikane sat and picked up her silverware, "Really? Is it something I did?"

With a shake of her head, the blond replied, "No, it was just that I was thinking about my guardians invitation."

"Invitation?"

Nodding, the blond answered, "Yes, he said he wanted both of us to come to the shrine," Himeko took a bite and her eyes widened, "Wow, these are even better than they look."

"I'm glad, trying using some syrup if they are a little dry," Something clicked in Chikane's mind, "Oh, that guy in priest robes? He was actually a priest? I thought he was just some kind of weirdo. I had the guards take him away... Wow, I feel bad."

"Don't worry," Himeko sighed, "It happens more than you think. I know you probably don't want to go, but knowing him there is an important reason for it."

"Oh, why do you say that?" The two had been talking between small bites and were about finished with their food.

After finishing another bite, chewing, and swallowing, Himeko answered, "Well, he has the type of personality that does not like to get involved unless it is of utmost importance. He prefers to let the hands of fate take charge."

"Sounds pretty laid back," Chikane commented.

With a shake of her head, Himeko spoke, "Not at all, he's very strict, but he believes in a deep spiritual connection in all things. Oogami-san thinks that if he interferes it will disrupt the natural balance of things... Or something like that."

"I see, well if you think it is important I guess we should go," Chikane said, "I had a few business meetings but I can reschedule."

---------------------(Ah, Miko.)----------------------------------

It took a while to arrive at the shrine and by the time they did Oogami Kazuki was waiting for the two of them with folded arms and a stern look on his face. To Chikane he probably looked imposing but Himeko knew it was just his normal appearance. He was a good person, kind and surprisingly gentle, but sometimes he seemed to know very little about people in the outside world.

"I have been expecting you," The man said as he turned and started to walk towards the main shrine, "Come with me and I'll show you the other person this concerns. Today you will make a choice, I have waited as long as I could to do this."

Himeko blinked, "Um, what is this about."

The priest stopped and turned for a second, "As I said, I will explain once inside. Follow me."

They did as he said and entered the main area of the shrine, walking through and already open door to see a man already waiting there. His dark hair was just long enough to hang a little past his eyes and swept to one side. Himeko recognized him immediately as Oogami Souma. It made her a bit nervous to realize that he was the first boy to ask her out on a date. She had turned him down, always feeling slightly bad about it, but the two of them had remained good friends through high school. She had lost track of him once they graduated, to find him here was something more than a coincidence in Himeko's mind. He looked at her, and for a second he showed signs of recognizing her, but she begged him with her eyes to not make a big deal about it right now. Apparently he got the hint as he remained quiet.

"As you probably already know," Kazuki spoke to Himeko, "This is my son, Souma. He is not my real son, but an orphan that arrived here after running away from home," The man stopped and fixed his attention on Himeko, "Similar to you, he had a rough family life. The difference is that, instead of just running away, he was involved in the murder of his father. His brother tried to protect him and ended up killing the man. After that he disappeared."

The man turned his attention to Chikane, "You probably never knew any of this, not in this existence anyway. Himeko is an orphan, I am only her legal guardian. She ran away from home after being abused by her father."

Looking down at the floor, Himeko muttered, "I was hoping she wouldn't have to hear that."

The older Oogami glanced over at her, "I understand but this is all important, you see, you three are tied together by fate. The two Priestesses of the Godless Month and the Seventh Neck of the Orochi which they fight against. It is time for you to remember your duty and face your fate. I will leave you three here for a while, I have some things to prepare. Once I'm back you will be asked to make an important decision."

With that the man left and the three were in the room by themselves, Himeko sat on the floor in the same kneeling position as Souma, as did Chikane. After a long silence, Souma finally managed to figure out how to ask the question that was on his mind. It would have been too insulting earlier, but the shock had almost caused him to blurt it out until he made contact with Himeko's amethyst eyes, which he still found the most beautiful of any woman.

"Is this..."Souma paused, looking for the words, "Is this the one you were waiting for?"

Himeko blushed and Chikane was left blinking at her, "Yes."

Souma looked over at the dark haired girl, she was definitely beautiful he had to admit, "I see, I admit it was worth the wait. I have to admit I'm kind of surprised to know you go that way."

"Not very polite are you?" Chikane muttered.

"Sorry, I meant no harm, I just meant that Himeko never gave me any clue as to who she was waiting for," Souma clarified, "When she did not want to date me I was hurt, as any man would be, but we generally still got along after that."

Chikane looked at Himeko in surprise, who was still blushing, "Is that true. You were waiting for all that time?"

"Yes," Himeko confirmed, "I... I had no idea who it was for but when I saw you on the street I knew instantly."

Souma sighed, "I have to admit, I never really got over you, Himeko. I'm happy for you though, you seem quite a bit happier than you use to be. I'm glad that I don't have to worry about you anymore."

Something occurred to Chikane suddenly, "Wait, aren't you suppose to be our enemy, why are you sitting here and catching up on old times?"

"Because I have decided to fight," Souma answered, "I don't want to do evil things. I have already been told that it means pain, and probably my own destruction. That's fine though, I have nobody to care about me when I'm gone."

Himeko shook her head, "That's not true, I'm sure someone cares about you. I mean we're still friends, right?"

"It's been three years since we last saw each other, Himeko," Souma replied, "I would like to think you you as a friend but you can't say you still care about me like you did."

The blond was quiet, he made his point.

"So you're just going to fight because you have nothing to lose?" Chikane asked.

Souma shook his head, "No, it's not for that reason. The reason is as I said earlier, I still care for Himeko. I will protect her even when she does not love me."

The dark haired girl blinked at that, "That's... Dedicated. If you're trying to prove yourself it won't work."

"You seem very suspicious of other people, Miss Chikane" Souma remarked.

Himeko put a hand on the dark haired woman's shoulder, "Chikane-chan, that's enough."

The woman turned back to the blond, "You mean you trust him. He's an enemy! I don't know about all of this Orochi and Priestess business but I know that he's not to be trusted in this situation."

"I know, Chikane-chan," Himeko said softly to calm the woman, "It's just that now is not the time. I'm not sure I trust him either but that is not what we came here for."

Chikane took a deep breath at the blonds words and looked at the young man across from her, "Fine, but this is hardly over."

Souma glanced at his watch and stood, "That's fine, I don't expect you to believe me right now. I have to be off now, I have work."

The two watched him disappear before Chikane turned to Himeko, "I'm sorry, I know he was a friend but something just rubbed the the wrong way."

Himeko smiled, "You were jealous," She teased.

"I was not!" Chikane denied, embarrassment clear in her voice, "I have my own reasons for not trusting him."

"Alright, I believe you, my jealous princess," Himeko said softly as she inched closer to the woman.

Suddenly there was a loud clearing of the throat behind the two and Himeko suddenly jumped back, her face beat red, "I have finished the preparations, come with me please."

The two woman followed the man out of the temple and down a long winding dirt path that led to a secluded cave. The three of them entered to be greeted by the sight of a large shrine with sealing wards pasted around it. Swords were stuck in the ground and candles burned eerily around the cave and the shrine. A sense of trepidation crept into the two girls as they looked around at the scene that was hauntingly familiar. Anxiety and fear gripped them as they both had a feeling of impending dread wash over them at what would come next. Unfortunately, they were right to be afraid of the place, Oogami produced a wooden box and set it down in front of the two of them. Opening the box, the girls saw two priestess robes, one white and purple the other white and red. Chikane started breathing heavily, it was just like the dream. The memory of their past selves were colliding with the present. Helplessness gripped the young woman suddenly.

"This is who you are," Oogami Kazuki announced, "Though I feel sorrow in admitting it, you two are destined to this path. You should have already started regaining old memories, now they must be fully awakened so that you two may awaken the god and fight the Orochi once more."

"I won't," Chikane gasped as she shot a hard look at the priest, "Never, I won't go through that again. That pain and anger, the death. I shall not allow it to befall either of us! There shall be no sacrifice!"

Oogami Kazuki let out a sigh, "I feared this. You have no choice, Himemiya Chikane. This is destiny, this is fate."

The dark haired woman clenched her fists, "Fate, destiny, give me a break! All I care about is the happiness of my friends and family. How can the one I love be happy if we are separated?"

"Chikane-chan..." Himeko looked at the girl and closed her eyes with sadness, for she knew that what Oogami Kazuki had just said was correct.

"You agree, don't you Himeko?" The woman looked at the blond with a combination of desperation and anxiety.

The blond took a deep breath, "Yes... But Chikane-chan, this is the only way. I... I don't want to do it but you know as well as I do that we can't stop it from happening."

What showed next on Chikane's face could only be called a look of betrayal, "Are you saying you're going to do this?"

A slight nod was the only response.

"This is crazy," Chikane lost her anger suddenly and looked beaten, "I can't take this, I need to go for a walk."

Himeko watched as the dark haired woman ran off, about to follow herself but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. Looking up, she found Oogami Kazuki standing there, he gave a short shake of his head before pointing to the box with the robes in it. Himeko knew that the Orochi had to be stopped, and the only way to do that was to remove the seal from the shrine. She took the red and white pair of priestess robes and made her way towards the temple where she intended to change. In her heart she did not want to do this. In her heart she wanted Chikane to help her remain strong. Most of all, she felt like she had just done something that shattered the dark haired woman's heart irreparably. Himeko held her tears in, it was not an easy task.

----------(Ah! Damn me!)---------------------------------------------

Don't kill me! Don't kill me! Everything works out I swear!

... Sorry about the ending, the chapter got kind of long and most of the rest of the next one has to do with Chikane wrestling with her own feelings. I know that cliffhanger endings suck. I hate them too, but in this case I really couldn't help it. Everything will turn out fine in the end, I just can't tell you how.

I hate myself so much right now...


	7. A Decision

A Meeting and A Dream.

A K.N.M. Fan fiction.

I do not own Kannazuki no Miko, this story belongs to me however. Please respect the ideas of myself, and others. Thank you.

NOTE: I will not end this with a cliffhanger. At least, not like the last one.

Chapter 7: A Decision.

As she stood in the green of the forest secluded in her own thoughts, Chikane felt a little angry. Not only at Himeko for what she had said but also at herself for acting as she had. It was not like it was the blond haired womans fault that this happened, she just could not believe that she had went with it. Why had they been born to this fate? It was just too much to take. They were the only ones in the world that would never be allowed to be happy in this life. Everything was out of place, life was not this hard, only for them.

"I see the moon priestess has taken a leave of absence for a while," A voice said behind her.

She turned to see a young man with medium length brown hair that covered one eye, he wore a joyful grin, "If you're going to attack me, you might as well forget it. I'm not going to be one of the priestesses."

The young man frowned slightly, "That's troublesome for me. I'm not here to attack you, but you see, I have to train you two. I'm Yukihito by the way."

Chikane grit her teeth behind a closed mouth, "I hate to disappoint you. No matter what you say it is not going to happen."

"Will you allow the sun priestess to suffer alone then?" The young man replied, "I know you don't want to do this. She really doesn't either."

"Could have fooled me," The dark haired woman remarked darkly, "Fate? Destiny? What a joke, this nothing more than a punishment. It has to be, I don't know what we did in the past but it must have been something pretty bad to cause such pain."

Yukihito closed his eyes, "I know you see this as punishment but you must remember that every gift has a sacrifice. The greater the gift the greater the sacrifice."

"Why does it have to be me?" Chikane burst out, "Why does it have to be US?"

"The better question would be, 'Why not?'," Yukihito responded, "Death and rebirth are part of the cycle of life. To be reborn into a better form is what everyone wishes for."

Chikane shook her head, "If it means being parted with Himeko, I won't do it."

"And yet, aren't you parting from her through your actions?" Yukihito had won, it was clear by the look on her face, "This is not a bad thing, this sacrifice is for a greater good."

The dark haired girl slumped and looked at the young man desperately, "Just tell me one thing, can I be happy like this?"

"That is something you will have to work out for yourself," The young man said as he turned and walked away, "My job is to assisted the Priestesses of the Godless month. I assist you now because Himeko, though she may not show it, is in a great amount of pain. She must have a clear conscience if this is to succeed or she will only end up getting hurt."

"I see," Chikane sighed, "I'll be there in a little while."

With that Yukihito walked off to leave Chikane to herself.

-------------------------(Emo Chikane)------------------------------

Himeko was a nervous wreak, she knew her duty but there was something that she could stop thinking about as she walked back towards the cave where the shrine lay. Part of her wanted to run away, to hide from her responsibilities. The other part knew what she had to do, it was always like that after all, always scared but determined to keep others safe. The blond entered the cave and looked up at the shrine, it was absolutely huge. Oogami Kazuki stood at the foot of the steps leading up to it in wait for her to return.

"I'm glad you chose to do this," The priest said as he led her to the top of the shrine, "I will help you through this as much as possible. For now you must clear your mind and focus on the task ahead of you. I'm sure Chikane will be fine, she's strong."

Himeko looked down and softly said, "I know, much stronger than I am."

Kazuki glanced at her, "You can't think like that, Himeko, you must focus all your strength on breaking the seal."

"I understand," Himeko said and took a deep breath, "What should I do?"

"First you must remember," The priest put a hand on her back and chanted quietly, Himeko felt a slight warm sensation on her back as he did so, "As the priestess of the sun you must remember your past, you must feel the mark of the sun. Only then will you be able to resurrect the god of Ame no Murakumo."

As the priest chanted, Himeko could see flashes in her mind of memories of long ago, past lives where she died, then the sight of another dark haired girl dying. Over and over the cycle repeated. Sometimes they had been good friends and other times enemies. Sometimes it was hard to tell. There were good times shared, laughing, crying, and anger. Visions of enemies they had faced always changed through the years but there were always eight of them.

Himeko gasped and almost fell as the memories stopped flowing into her and her mind struggled to process the overload of information. She was steadied by Oogami and a new person, the young man Yukihito, so that she would not hurt herself if she did fall. When she felt steady enough Himeko waved them away.

"I'm fine, please let me continue," The blond said as she stepped up to the shrine and took a breath, starting to chant.

There was no need to prompt the woman to do anything, with the memories she had received Himeko already knew what it was she had to do. Unbidden a chant came to her lips as she gazed upon the magnificent shrine which she stood in front of. As she chanted the two watched and slowly the seal started to give way, one after another everything started to be set free, it was like pushing a boulder up a large hill, the farther she got the more she wanted to give up. The more she progressed, the more Himeko had difficulty focusing on the task at hand. She was maintaining her focus but just barely, her mind was worn out from using so much of her own energy to manipulate the spiritual energy from the shrine. Finally she lost the battle, after a half-hour strait of trying to maintain her focus, it was too much for the girl. Himeko let out a scream of pain as she was overwhelmed by the spiritual energy and thrown back. She expected to land on the ground hard, but instead found herself held in protective arms.

Opening her eyes, which she had closed to prepare herself for the fall, to find a beautiful face staring back at her full of concern, "... Chikane-chan."

"Stupid," The young woman said kindly, "Trying to do something like this yourself."

Himeko stood with Chikane's help, "I thought you left me... I should have known better. I'm such an idiot."

Shaking her head, the dark haired woman said, "No, I was the fool to leave you here alone. After swearing to always be with you, it must have hurt you horribly."

"Not as bad as I hurt you," Himeko responded, "I keep acting without considering how you feel."

"Yes, but I did the same," Chikane said before pausing, "Now we should continue."

It was a lot easier, Himeko realized, to maintain your spiritual energy when someone was handling part of the burden. A couple hours later, the two were about used up even with the two of them handling the immense spiritual energy together. It did not take an expert eye to see that they were still not ready to fully awaken the god.

"That's enough," Oogami Kazuki announced, "You two have done well today but there is no way you will be able to finish as you are. We can pick this up at another time."

Both the girls were gasping for breath to reply.

Himeko finally lost the battle to stand as her legs became weak and she dropped to her knees. Minutes later Chikane managed to stumble over to her and attempt to help her back to her feet only to end upon the ground behind the woman with her arms draped over her should. Kazuki and Yukihito walked forward helped the women stand, each supporting the two on the outside while Chikane and Himeko stood on the inside. It took some effort, as their legs really did not want to move, but eventually they were taken to the shrine and helped to lay down in a bed in the spare room the priest had ready. As soon as their heads touch the pillow, the two priestesses passed out from exhaustion. The look on their face as Oogami Kazuki watched them sleep seemed one that would dispel the worst evil by itself. So happy even when they knew what lay in wait for them.

The priest smiled, "Have a good night rest, you two."

"Are they okay?" Yukihito asked as he looked on.

"They will be fine," the priest answered.

The two exited the room and left the two women laying next to one another in the dark. Himeko rolled closer to Chikane in her sleep and snuggled into the womans chest. The dark haired woman wrapped her arms around blond and pulled her tightly towards herself. Even in their sleep they would never let one part from the other.

-----------------------(Aw, how cute!)---------------------------------

Chikane woke feeling heavy, and not the depressed, weight of the world on your shoulders, kind of heavy. It was more like a physical, girl around your neck, kind of heavy. Looking down she saw that it was because she did in fact have a very cute girl tightly attached to her. When she saw the position of her own arms she realized that she was probably no better than Himeko. It mattered little anyways, after what had happened yesterday she felt as if this was the best present she could ever get. In her arms the young woman stirred and opened her eyes sleepily, eyelids blinking rapidly over amethyst color. Himeko smiled a she met the eyes of the other young woman and shifted slightly but never broke the embrace.

"Morning to you to," Chikane said with a close mouthed grin, "sleepyhead."

Himeko smiled back and said, "It's not like I could move anyways. Nor would I want to."

With a kiss on the forehead, Chikane adjusted her hands slightly to the woman's waist, "I still can't believe you tried to do something like that on your own. You're a lot stronger than you admit, Himeko."

"That's not true," The blond said, "I only did it because you weren't there, and I couldn't even focus enough to be any good at it. I was thinking of how angry you were the whole time. When you came back it was such a relief, I could never imagine my life without you, Chikane-chan."

"Nor could I imagine mine without out," The woman said, giving the girl another quick peck, "That is the reason I came back. If we are to face our destiny once again, it would be best to do so together."

"I'm glad to hear that, Chikane-chan," Himeko rand her hand through the woman's dark hair idly, "The pain of parting is too much for me."

There was a knock at the door and the two turned but did not separate. As the door slid open, Yukihito smiled and walked forward with a tray of food. He said nothing but placed the tray down next to the two before he wordlessly left the room. The two woman looked at each other and sat up to reach for the food. Though they had not realized that they were hungry before, the presence of food in the room had caused them to realize how hungry they actually were.

It took some effort, their bodies were sore and weak from the previous days events, but slowly they managed to sit up. It did not take long to eat as the food was good and they were definitely hungry enough to eat without caring about being dignified. The pace was only one step away from shoveling the food into their mouths. Even the normally dignified Chikane dropped any hint of her high class lineage in favor of quickly eating the food in front of her. Himeko, for her part, was surprised at the dark haired woman's zeal but did not pause in her own eating. Soon the two were finished and they set their plates to the side.

Chikane was about to comment about the food when she suddenly felt Himeko's lips brush her cheek, "Well that was unexpected. What did I do to deserve such a sweet kiss in the morning."

"You forgot to wipe your face," Himeko said with a grin as she grinned like a maniac at the impending reaction.

Chikane did not disappoint as her face colored slightly crimson, "You certainly like to make trouble."

"That's the first time I've ever seen you blush, Chikane-chan!" Himeko could not hold back her excitement as she felt her victory, "That's payback for all the times you embarrassed me."

"I doubt I'm as cute as you when I blush, though," Chikane tapped the young woman lightly on the nose.

The blond thought for a second, "No, that's true, but you sure are a lot more sexy than I am. The way you capture attention in a room ins really amazing. I think you're really a witch."

Chikane chuckled, "Then I guess I used a magic potion to steal your heart?"

Their playful banter was interrupted by a knock on the door, it slid open to reveal Oogami Kazuki standing with a smile on his normally stern face, "That's enough of that you two. I'm glad you're getting along well but we do have a job to finish."

"But I'm still tired," Himeko whined, "Plus I'm not sure I can focus right now."

The priest frowned slightly, "I understand but this is something that you must finish quickly. Only when you break the seal will you be able to defeat the eight necks of the Orochi."

As reality came crash down on the two, Chikane decided that she would continue on her own terms, "Fine, we'll do it together but you must first unlock my memories. I wish to know about my past, my relationship with the sun priestess and the Orochi. I know Himeko already regained her memories so I wish to regain mine also."

Kazuki was slightly surprised.He had sent Yukihito after the woman to do just what she was requesting. That the young man did not do it was only a slight oversight, but there was also the fact that she participated in the ritual yesterday. For her to try to break the seal without first realizing herself was unheard of, she could have very well died if they had continued. Of course he was sure that she had no idea about that.

"Fine," The priest said, "I'm glad to hear you made this decision."

She had made her choice but she was silently hoping for an answer to her problems if she remembered her past. Chikane felt a hand on her back and heard chanting, and as she heard the priests voice she felt a warm sensation on her back. Slowly at first the visions of her past came to her mind and began to flood her with all of the sensations she had felt. Everything was absorbed to the point that she could feel her mind start to overflow, small memories of her past leaving to make room for new past memories. Quickly they started to flash through her mind, as if she was watching a movie in reverse, until they eventually stopped. The last vision she saw was a man with long black hair hand her a sword and walking away. Then reality once again appeared and she struggled to keep in her sitting position, supported only by Himeko who had known that she would lose her balance having gone through the even herself.

Chikane looked up and glanced at Oogami Kazuki, "Who is Susano-o?"

--------------------------(Tsukiyomi and Ameterasu)------------------------

Oh jeez, I thank God that this is over with. I realized only after writing about it that I was by far weakest in my knowledge of how the ritual to unseal Ame no Murakumo went. In the event of looking up information about it, I found out that Ame no Murakumo was actually a sword that belong to Susano-o who defeated the original Orochi and blah, blah, blah. My mind started hurting as the story suddenly trying to split in so many direction I had trouble getting back on track. I think I recovered okay but this is by far the weakest chapter in my opinion. I'll try to raise the quality up again with the next one. Damn writer's block.

Anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter. Once my brain recovers I start chapter 8.


	8. Gods to Humans

A Meeting and A Dream.

A K.N.M. Fan fiction.

I do not own Kannazuki no Miko, this story belongs to me however. Please respect the ideas of myself, and others. Thank you.

NOTE: Here we go again. Sorry for the lack of quality of the last chapter. Fatigue and writer's block hit hard. The lyrics below are more of an overall feeling than a description of a theme, keep that in mind.

_  
Where Oh where have you been my love?  
Where Oh where can you be?  
It's been so long, since the moon has gone.  
And 0h what a wreck you've made me._

_Are you there over the ocean?  
Are you there, up in the sky?  
Until the return of my love  
This lullaby_

_ -QOTSA_

Chapter 8: Gods to Humans.

"Who is Susano-o?" Chikane asked as she glanced up at Oogami Kazuki.

It came as a surprise to the priest as he stood looking down on her, "He was the original wielder of Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi. It was a legendary sword that was found after the defeat of the original eight headed Orochi. Why do you know this name?"

Chikane closed her eyes tightly and shook her head to clear some of the dizziness, "I'm not sure, I think he gave me the sword... One of my past selves... I'm so confused right now."

Yukihito entered and knelt down next to her, "That is to be expected, you have just witnessed many life times of memories in just a few minutes. If you need a rest we can allow a few minutes, but not much."

Shaking her head, the dark haired young woman finally managed to rise to her feet, "No, if I'm going to do this it would be best to do it now," _Before I lose my confidence_, Chikane added to herself.

"Very well," The young man said, "I will go prepare, you take your time and prepare as you need."

Chikane looked over at Himeko, who nodded once forcefully, "We will follow now, there is no need for us to prepare."

"Good, then follow me," Yukihito said.

-----------------------(Short Intro)---------------------

Yukihito and Kazuki had left the two to their own devices toward the end of the ritual and they had finished on their own. It was done, after so long preparing and chanting and breaking the seals it was finally all over and in front of them lay the very sword, with its curved single edged blade, that caused so much pain. Chikane looked down at it with fear as she realized she had set into motion their undeniable fate once again. Himeko saw the look come over the dark haired girl and placed a hand on hers. It was an unspoken comfort, it told the young woman that it was okay, that somehow everything would work out. Chikane took her eyes off the sword and looked into the eyes of Himeko, her blue eyes trembling with unshed tears. For her part, the blond was not sure exactly how to react to the new feeling. She had never seen Chikane so close to a breakdown, it was as if the roles had been reversed, only Himeko knew nothing of how to cope with the situation. The young woman knelt down and took up the sword in her hand, feeling the power coursing through her body by simply holding the sheathed blade. With a deep breath, Himeko unsheathed the sword and saw how the blade shone brightly even in the dim light of the cave. Somehow it felt natural to wield the blade even though she had never held a weapon before. Himeko sheathed the blade and held it out to Chikane.

"This suits you better," The blond said quietly, "I know you fear it, I do too. I think... I think that we should probably share this burden."

Looking up, Chikane nodded, "I'm sorry, Himeko, I know I'm usually the strong one but I don't want to hurt you like I did. I want help you find happiness. After all I did to you, those acts that made you my enemy. I made you hate me."

Walking forward, Himeko embraced Chikane, "Just this once, I will do this for you just this once, I have no right to do it afterwards. I never hated you Chikane-chan, I just didn't know why you did it, not until it was too late."

Chikane looked at Himeko and, though she could tell the girl was trying to be strong for her sake, tears were still falling from her eyes, "Himeko, I'm sorry."

"I should apologize to you," The blond responded, "If I realized how you felt, if I wasn't so caught up in my own world all the time, I would have seen it happening."

There was nothing the dark haired girl could say to refute that, "But for me to do that to you..."

"It was scary, I felt like I had been betrayed," Himeko said as she closed her eyes to try and stop the tears, "But you saved me in the end, didn't you, Chikane-chan. Neither of us died, but you were imprisoned because you did such horrible things. I don't want to see that side of you again."

Slowly, Chikane felt herself starting to feel less overcome by her emotions, she put her hand on the hilt of the sword and grasped it firmly, "Then I will make sure you never have to. This time I will make right what I did wrong in the past. I will fight together with you."

"I'm glad," Himeko said as she handed the sword over to Chikane, "I'm so tired, we had better get back to the temple before we make them carry us again."

Chuckling, the dark haired woman used her free arm to support the blond who did the same, and they made their way back towards the temple. The wind had picked up slightly and clouds had started to move in over the sky as the two walked causing leaves to start blowing off trees. It had been cold these last few months as winter approached and now it was getting even more so. In the cold a man stood with his long green-white hair fluttering in the breeze. On his hip was a sword which was sheathed but the man kept his hand on the hilt in preparation for an attack or the need to defend. Chikane knew that neither of them had the strength to fight against the man should he decide to attack them, the look in his eyes screamed that he was an enemy. Calm almost dead red eyes regarded the two of them with disdain as he started to walk towards them slowly.

"You two have no need to worry here," The man said, "I have no intention of attacking you in a holy place. I did come to warn you to be careful though. As soon as you step across the threshold of this gate I will not hold back."

"I will be waiting for that time," Chikane said with a sense of confidence she did not feel, this guy was just damn scary, "you better be prepared to meet your end."

Himeko looked over at her, "Chikane, I don't think we should provoke this guy."

Looking over at her the man said, "You I will not hurt, I will save you for my brother. It seems he has taken a liking to you. Now if you will excuse me, I have other things to do."

Staring after him, Himeko wondered who exactly that was, and just who his brother was. In the end her feeling of tiredness won out and she again started to head towards the shrine with her dark haired companion. When they finally reached the temple and collapsed in bed they had forgotten about the white haired man for the time. All that mattered was the sleep that awaited them after using so much energy in the summoning.

-----------------(Oh NO!)--------------------------

Dark haired man in shadows, "How are they?"

Oogami Kazuki, "They seem to be doing fine."

Oogami Kazuki, "I hope this turns out differently this time."

"Maybe it will, maybe it won't."

"It depends on your mood, huh?"

"I never said that, but it would help if I was in a good mood."

"That sword..."

"I should have never let her watch over it."

"Why did you?"

"At the time I figured she could manage, she was a good priestess."

"So what changed."

"She did, as everyone does. I never imagined she'd..."

"Fall in love."

"For lack of a better term."

------------------------(Oh YES!)---------------------

When the two girls woke next it was not just the next day but two days later and they felt like they could eat their weight in food. Admittedly this was not that much since they were in pretty good shape, but any amount nearing one hundred or over was a lot. Chikane yawned and looked over at a slightly rough looking Himeko who smiled weakly back at her to show that she was fine. Both of the girls could have used a nice long bath and new clothes, speaking of that, Chikane had promised the blond that they would go shopping to for new clothes after the wine incident.

"I need a long hot bath," The dark haired girl said as she locked her blue eyes on Himeko's, "Would the lady care to join me?"

Blinking, Himeko slowly sat up and shook her head, "I need to eat first."

"Hum, a dilemma, though I was looking forward to a bath I think it could wait for after we ate," Chikane said.

With the next course of action decided, the two of them went to get something to eat. They did not have go go any farther than the dining room however, as food was already placed out in preparation for them to arrive. The big meal was devoured by the two, Kazuki and Yukihito looking on in silence, before they politely excused themselves. They managed to find out from the two that he bath was in a separate part of the house out back and the two young women made their way towards it. It was an old style bath that required a burning fire to heat, but it was more than big enough for the two of them. Yukihito had been sent after them to help maintain the temperature of the bath.

Inside the two girls felt as if they were in the lap of luxury, "Ah, this feels so much better."

Himeko looked over at Chikane and grinned, "I bet the princess is glad to be clean again."

"Yes, I feel relaxed," The dark haired woman said.

"I wonder who that man was who visited yesterday," Himeko said.

Closing her eyes and sinking deeper into the water, Chikane shrugged, "Who knows, who cares. The only thing that would make this better would be to have a certain angel join me on my side."

Himeko made her way over to Chikane and snuggled up next to her, "You feel nice, Chikane-chan, the world would be perfect if we could stay like this forever."

"I agree," Chikane said as she cradled the young woman's upper-body in her arms and ran her hands through the blond's hair, "If wishing would make everything go away I would wish right now for only us to be here."

"That would be kind of lonely," Himeko remarked.

"Not for me," Chikane said as she kissed the woman on the top of her head, "The only person that matters is right next to me."

Himeko giggled, "I think someones a little selfish."

"When it comes to you, I would agree," Chikane replied.

---------------------------(Another one of these)------------------------------------

"Today is the day," Oogami Kazuki said, "They will leave my protection."

"Do they have a chance?"

Sighing, Kazuki turned to the voice, "I have helped them all I can, their fate is their own."

"That's not what I asked."

"It is slim, and they will have many difficult times, but if it's them they can do it," The priest replied.

"It hardly seems fair to them."

With a nod of his head, the priest said, "I agree, but as I said, I can do no more for them."

-------------------------(Ending)---------------------------------

This chapter felt much better than the last. Not much else to say about this one except I hope you like it better than the last. I know I do.

I do feel like I'm overusing side characters, I mean Yukihito has appeared more in this one chapter than he ever did in the anime. I just figure that it would be natural to see him since his job was to help the priestesses unseal Ame no Murakumo. By the way, if anyone is wondering about Susano-o, look at the wiki article on him, it's actually pretty interesting.


	9. Himeko's Warmth

A Meeting and A Dream.

A K.N.M. Fan fiction.

I do not own Kannazuki no Miko, this story belongs to me however. Please respect the ideas of myself, and others. Thank you.

NOTE: (Nothing of note.)

Chapter 9: Himeko's Warmth.

They were walking down a street in the middle of a busy shopping district, people mumble around them as they passed. The two girls were in the middle of a shopping spree sponsored by one Himemiya Chikane, who was the second of the two women. The other young woman was less well off by appearance but had a certain radiance around her that made her seem just a beautiful, in a different kind of way, as the young woman with dark hair. They carried a bag in each hand, filled to the top with clothes. It had been a couple days since they had been to the shrine to unseal the legendary sword Ame no Murakumo and since then they had had mostly happy times with each other. Chikane had finally decided to take Himeko on the shopping trip that she had promised and the young woman seemed to be enjoying herself. She was bouncing from window to window, pointing and staring at anything that even slightly caught her eye. Chikane had to imagine that Himeko had never really been on a shopping trip like this, being able to actually enjoy herself rather than worrying about a budget. The dark haired woman walked up to her as she stood at a window with bright eyes.

"Look how pretty this is, Chikane-chan!" Looking down she saw an average looking pendant, two of them actually, one a sliver of silver in the shape of a sun and the other a crescent moon pendant with the metal on the inner edge of the crescent darkened through scribing.

"Would you like me to buy those?" Chikane asked as she looked at the two pendents.

Himeko thought for a second before she shook her head, "No, I'll wait for a bit," the young woman wanted to get them as a gift truthfully. Having Chikane buy them would be easy but there was nothing special about that. They were not all that expensive, but she would have to come back soon to make sure that they would hold the pendents until she had the money to buy them herself. She also had to ask how much an engraving would cost.

Moving on they came to a small shop that sold sweets, the two decided to stop inside and grab a quick bite to eat. Around them couples talked, most of them normal male and female couples but there were a few female couples and even male couples. Blinking, Chikane went to find a seat as Himeko found out what she wanted and decided to order for the both of them. As they were waiting at the counter, it occurred to Chikane that this was the farthest they had been from each other since they had decided to become a couple. It was only around ten feet but as she sat down Chikane started thinking maybe she had been a little too attached to the girl. She did not seem to mind but everyone needed space at times and she would have to respect that when the time came. It was just that... That she would have a lot of trouble spending time apart from the blond. Though Himeko saw her as the stronger of the two, she had to admit that there were times it was hard to maintain it. She had only been acting strong because the girl thought of her that way, Himeko needed someone to lean against. It was embarrassing that she had been the one to lean on the blond during the ceremony of the unsealing of the sword but sometimes she need strength to.

"Chikane-chan," Himeko said, "Are you okay?"

The dark haired young woman jumped a little and looked at Himeko, "Yeah, I was just lost in thought. Is there a problem?"

"Well, um, no, but the food is ready," The blond said as she set a tray down and took a seat, "I was just wondering if you were okay."

"I'm fine," Chikane responded, "Just caught in thought."

"Is it about what happened at the temple?" Himeko asked, "I... I wouldn't mind if... If you need it, you know, I wouldn't mind if you used me for support. I'm probably not as good as you but everyone needs to rely on someone."

For her part, Chikane clicked her tongue lightly, the blond was surprisingly perceptive, "It's not that I would mind it, but If I'm going to be strong I can't rely on other people like that."

Himeko took a bite of her food and set it down softly after hearing this, swallowing her food, she responded, "Well nobody can be strong all of the time. If you were then I probably would think you didn't like me, it would be too cold."

"No, I suppose you're right," The dark haired woman admitted, "I was just hoping that I could support you because I want to protect you. Always. If anything happened to you... I don't know how I would react. I just want to keep you with me this time. I'm sorry, Himeko, I didn't mean to pour out my soul like this."

Smiling the blond shook you head, "You don't need to apologize, Chikane-chan, I'm happy that you told me this. Remember what I told you when we first met, I want to know how you feel and I want to tell you how I fell. If something bad happens to one of us and the other isn't around, how are we suppose to know if there is not talking."

"They do say communication is important in a relationship," Chikane was hardly sat but she suddenly felt less upbeat than she had been, "Fine, I give up, if I need to I'll lean on you. I'm not going to let everything get to me though."

"That's all I wanted," Himeko said, "I don't want you to change. I just want you to realize that people have limitations."

"Himeko, did you channel some kind of prophet or something," Chikane felt a grin come back to her face, "This is very uncharacteristic for you."

The blond blushed, back to normal, "I just want to help... because you help me all the time."

Finishing their food, Chikane and Himeko decided that they had bought enough clothing and started to head back to Chikane's apartment. Since the shopping district was pretty much right next to her hotel, the two of them had decided to walk, especially since Chikane did not like to let people know she was right. Most people could tell just by looking at her anyways, there was not need to flaunt it by using a car to drive a block. Since she was encumbered by so many bags, she ended up apologizing to many people, along with Himeko. Unfortunately, one person did not accept her apology. A rather large man wearing a green jacket adorned with many heavy looking chains stood in front of the two of them refusing to move.

The man's face clicked in Chikane's face and she leapt out of the way just in time to avoid a huge fist, "Himeko, run!"

For her part the blond was at a loss, the suddenness of the attack left her bewildered and open for a thick chain to wrap around her body and pin her arms to her side. The bags that had been in her hands dropped to the ground and she fell backwards on the hard concrete. Chikane curse and tried to rush over to help the girl but was put on a quick defensive as the man started to attack her.

"Let Himeko go!" Chikane demanded.

Girochi laughed as he attacked her, "I don't take orders from a cow."

Dodging the next attack, Chikane could feel herself become angry at the words, her breasts weren't _that_ big, "I'm warning you one last time, let Himeko go!"

Over on the ground, Himeko was busy trying to get the chains to loosen up as she rolled around on the ground. It was not as if they were tied securely, they were just really tight and she was having trouble breathing. She could catch occasional glimpses of the fight and it looked like Chikane was able to do very little against the huge man. Chikane dodged a punch from the man but was back up against the wall, a crowed of spectators had gathered to watch, keeping their distance and Himeko began to worry that innocent people would be hurt.

"Stop," The blond yelled, "We should go somewhere else."

The man paused and turned to her, "Oh, are you worried about the other people? That don't matter to me. My goal is their death anyways."

Himeko shuttered, "That's horrible! They did nothing to you."

pulling on the chain that was attached to her, the man flung her against the wall hard. Chikane watched as if everything was in slow motion while the girls small body was flung against he hard wall and she slumped to the ground. Himeko was mostly protected from injury by the chains but the collision was enough to send a horrible shock through her body and make her pass out. As she saw the girl lay still on the ground, Chikane felt her vision blur. There were no tears but the anger that overcame her caused her to lose focus. Anger at the man for hurting Himeko and anger at herself for not being able to protect the girl.

"I guess I used a little too much strength", the man said with a grin, "Oh well, she's mostly unhurt so it's not a problem."

"I can't forgive you," Chikane muttered as she stood, "To hurt her just a little is wrong. She did nothing to you! She's the kindest, gentlest person I've ever known and you hurt her like that! You'll pay with your life."

Girochi blinked, "I think you may be exaggeratin'. You ain't gonna kill me and I don't even think she was in pain."

She could do nothing, Chikane knew she had no way to fight back, she was sure that even if she hit the man with her fist it would do nothing but hurt her. Somehow she needed to get him to release Himeko and drive him away from the people gathered around. If only they had brought the sword with them they would be able to take the man on. Though they had managed to smuggle it into the hotel by packing it in a large suitcase under a change of clothes there was not way they could just have it out in the open. They had not expected to be attacked like this either, so that was another unknown.

Himeko had started to regain consciousness as the two continued to fight and was witness to a one sided fight. She was unnoticed and so she decided to try to free herself silently. If she could do that the two of them might be able to escape. Right now she was sure that the only reason Chikane was not running was because she was in danger. Even if Himeko would have tried to say something make the girl leave her behind, Chikane would never do it. Himeko had been around the young woman enough to know that nothing would make Chikane leave the her as she was. It took a while but she finally managed to free herself and stood just in time to the man grab the dark haired woman with his right hand, leaving his left arm free to swing at her. Without thinking, Himeko felt her legs move and she jumped in the way just in time to push Chikane out of the way.

The blow glanced off her arm, but even that glancing blow left a pain greater than anything the blond had ever known. She was sure her arm was broken, it hung limply at her side and she collapsed to her knees. So much for getting away together.

"Damn woman," Girochi spat as he stopped attacking and collected his chain, "Fine, I'll play it your way. It's not very fun to pick on you girls anyways. I'd rather have a real fight."

Himeko watched as the man walked off before she winced once more and passed out once again from the overwhelming pain. To hands caught her, keeping her from hitting the ground, and as Chikane cradled the girl in her arms she managed to retrieve her cellphone and call for her driver. This was no time to care about status and how she was seen by other people. This was a time to make sure everyone got the care they needed. Chikane finished giving her driver directions on where to pick them up before she dialed the number for the police and told everyone to stay around so that they could be questioned. A little later her driver arrived around the same time as the police and she left with Himeko after giving them a quick statement. She just hoped that this would not make the news, mom and dad would not be happy.

---------------------------------(Egad! Not Girochi: P)----------------

Looking around as much as she could gave clues to where she was. The white walls and the distinctively antiseptic smell clued her in to the fact that she was in a hospital. There was an IV drip attached to one arm and the other was wrapped in a thick case of plaster and bandages. She had remembered the fight and how she pushed Chikane out of the way of a blow only to have her own arm end up getting hit. She was probably on a huge load of painkillers to prevent herself from feeling the pain.

"No, I will not come back!" Chikane's voice sounded in the small room, she was obviously upset, "I'm not going to abandon her... That's irrelevant... I'll find a way... I know... But I... I understand... No, I'm not coming back... It's not unfair, it's unfair for you to want me to leave her... I can't answer that right now, she's waking up, I have to go."

"Chikane, wait!" The phone call ended and the dark haired girl hurried to Himeko's side.

"Are you alright?" Himeko could tell that Chikane was beside herself, torn between frustration and anger, "I wish you wouldn't have done something so stupid. Look at you, in the hospital because you wanted to be a damn heroine. Dummy, you could have been killed, then what would I do?"

Even though Chikane had said those things with a smile, Himeko could see tears running down her face, "I'm alive though. And so are you, I'm glad."

"What would it matter, I could die but you should live," Chikane said quietly.

Himeko sighed and tried to move an arm to wipe her hand on the dark haired womanss face and remove the tears, realizing that she had broke that same arm earlier she used the other one, "Your being stupid now, Chikane-chan. You think I would be better off if you die. You think I wouldn't feel just as sad. I feel like you don't think I love you as much as you love me."

The insult was unintentional but Chikane realized it was there, under the surface, she had given a face to something Himeko feared, "That's not true. It's just that I... I don't... I just don't want you to die okay. If it makes you feel better I won't either, is that better? I'm sorry, I know you love me a lot, the same as I love you, but I was so worried about you."

"Well that's natural," Himeko said, maybe it was the pain killers, no it was the painkillers, but she felt a distinct calmness, "I would be worried about you too."

Something occurred to Himeko, "Uh, shouldn't you be back home by now?"

Chikane shook her head, "I'm not going back, I'm going to live here with you."

"You can't, what about your career," Himeko admonished.

"I can put it on hold for a year or two," Chikane said, "Once you graduate we can be together while I continue playing music."

"I would like that," Then what she said made its way through Himeko's head, addled as it was by the drugs, "Oh crap, I forgot about school. I need to sign up for the new term."

"I can do that for you," Chikane said, "If I call them I can get you enrolled for next term. The classes you will need to set up yourself though."

"That's fine," The blond breathed a sigh of relief, "I'm lucky my girlfriends rich. Even if she doesn't like to be reminded of it."

Chikane smiled, "Feh, you should be lucky I fell for such a commoner. Of course, I really don't think of you that way, but others will. Is that okay with you?"

Using her good arm, Himeko pulled Chikane in for a kiss, "I'll tell you this right now, if you ever think our social status gives me any problems I won't hesitate to slap the sanity back into you."

Laughing, Chikane gave the blond a kiss back, "Someones getting a little spunky, I might have to take care of that later."

"I'd like to see you try," Himeko challenged.

Chikane leaned over and embraced Himeko for all she was worth, feeling the blonds warmth flow through her and assuring her that she was alive. It was all she needed to convince herself that everything would work out. As long as Himeko was with her to provide her warmth and light as the sun provided light to the moon in the night, everything would work out. All things considered the scene was pretty normal, neither of them really felt like talking about what happened but that was fine. If their happiness could have lasted it would have been great, if they could just have a normal life. Somehow they would make things work out, if they had been through a reincarnation and still came out of it as well off as they were it was a high possibility that things would turn out okay. It would not be all happy, but things would turn out fine in the end, the two of them just had to believe.

-------------------------------(... The end)-------------------------

I had trouble ending this chapter. I wanted to keep writing but I realized I would end up putting too much into it and it would take me a week just to finish it. There is no way I wanted to make this the last chapter in the series so I stopped with much reluctance.

One thing must be made clear, I do not plan on making this into an action fic, there will be action but I will stay focused on the relationship between Chikane and Himeko. No mecha (I bet that's not a major loss anyways) and only minimal amounts of fighting. It's not like the two girls are built for fighting anyways. Chikane MIGHT do okay but Himeko would definitely not be able to hold her own.

This is the last time a drink before I write an ending statement.


	10. Chikane's Light

A Meeting and A Dream.

A K.N.M. Fan fiction.

I do not own Kannazuki no Miko, this story belongs to me however. Please respect the ideas of myself, and others. Thank you.

NOTE: Though some might see it as a continuity error, let's just say that the college Himeko goes to allows mid-term registration. After all it's all fictitious, we're talking about Mahoroba here. On a side note, look that name up and you'll find some interesting history.

Chapter 10: Chikane's Light.

It had been a short stay in the hospital, the doctors just wanted to make sure that Himeko had not other injuries. She still wore a cast but it was only long enough to support the area where her arm had been broken by the hit she took. It was healing quicker than expected even with the area of the break and the severity the doctors had been a little surprised by the speed of the healing. It was not healing so quick they would think her a genetic mutant but enough to question what the cause would be. In the end nothing had really come of it and Himeko had been released after a couple days in the hospital.

Though it had been discussed slightly during her stay in the hospital, Himeko was slightly leery of Chikane's decision to quite her work. It was not because she did not want the young woman to be near her, that was possibly the farthest from the truth. She was just worried that Chikane was giving up something important just because she wanted to stay close. If that was the only reason, just to be with her, then there was not way Himeko could ask Chikane to do such a thing. Speaking of the dark haired young woman, she had left to take care of some business. Himeko was fine going home alone, it was a little sad being without the young woman but she knew it was not a big problem. It was just that she suddenly realized how lonely her life had been before the two of them had met once again. The blond closed her eyes and clutched the pink seashell around her neck, their link, and gained strength from it. Chikane was here now and she would be here always. Everything else was of no importance.

Her cab pulled up to her own apartment building, it looked so run down now that her eyes almost hurt to see it. She had nothing else to compare it to before, ever getting outside of her neighborhood to do anything but go to school, but since being to the shopping district and downtown she could now see she was poor by comparison. With a sigh she entered and made her way to her room where there was a note on her door, probably left by Makoto. Reading it revealed that her friend was worried about her and wanted her to call as soon as she got the chance. Now that she thought about it, Himeko realized that she had not been anywhere that was not next to her princess for over a week now. She knew that Oogami Kazuki had got her a week of, it was most probable that Chikane had got her an extra few days of but she did not want to assume anything.

Picking up the phone she dialed Makoto's number and waited as the phone rang and there was a click on the other end, "Hello, this is Saotome Makoto."

Makoto... This is Kurusugawa... Himeko," It had been a long time and the blond was unsure of how to introduce herself.

There was a pause before voice from the other end responded, "Himeko? Himeko! Where have you been? I can't believe this, you just disappear for a week and come back . Are you okay? Did something happen to you?"

"Oh, um, I just had some personal business to take care of," Himeko responded before she paused, "Makoto, I need to talk to you."

For her part, the girl on the other end of the phone had a bad feeling but kept it out of her voice, "Alright, class is almost over. You're coming back tomorrow right?"

"Yeah," Himeko sighed and looked at her arm, "Though I don't know how much I'll be able to do, I broke my arm," Realizing how that sounded she quickly added, "I'm okay though, really. It's healing fine."

Makoto sighed, "Fine, listen, I'm coming home right after class is over. Don't move. I want to talk to you also."

There was a click as the conversation ended and finally Himeko built up the courage to open the door to her room. Inside was as she left it, apparently her absence had not been enough to keep the girl from going out as she usually did. The thought was not as depressing as she would have thought but she sure wished that something had been different in her absence. Chikane had dropped by earlier and returned all thing things she had taken with her to the apartment, and the things they had bought together. With a sigh, Himeko sat down on her bed and felt lonely for the first time in a while. It was not because of any one missing thing, it was because she was alone in the room with nobody around her. Anyone would be lonely in such a case. At some point the blond became bored and before she knew it she was passed out on the couch, hanging slightly off.

The next thing she heard was a knock on the door and for a second she thought it was Makoto but then realized the her friend had a key. Rising with slow deliberate movements the young woman made her way over to the door and stumbled as she looked through the sight hole that was inset into it. She barely managed to catch a glimpse of dark blue hair before she opened the door wide.

"Hello, Himeko," Chikane said as she grabbed the surprised girl in an embrace, "I finished my business and heard you had been let out of the hospital. I came by to see if you were okay."

"Um, yeah, I'm fine, Chikane-chan," The blond responded, "I was just resting."

"I have something important to talk to you about, may I come in?" Chikane asked.

Though she knew it was probably not a good idea to let her in while Makoto was on her way home, she could not better deny Chikane than she could stop the moon from rising, "Oh, um, please do."

Chikane walked in and sat down on the couch, "Thank you."

"Would you like some tea?" Himeko asked as she disappeared into the kitchen area.

Looking around at the apartment, Chikane responded, "Yes, that would be great."

"All I have is the bags, I hope that's okay," Himeko called as running water was heard.

"That's fine," Chikane called as she sat back on the couch, it was surprisingly comfortable for being in such a run down place.

Minutes later Himeko came out with a tea pot and two cheap white porcelain cups, setting the down on a coffee table. Chikane leaned forward and took a sip before wincing just the slightest bit. It was drinkable but the taste was something that the dark haired woman was not used to. She was surprised that there was even a difference between ground leaves from a plant. The world was strange.

Chikane set the cup down and patted the seat next to her to indicate that Himeko should sit there, "I've missed you."

Himeko sat next to the woman, close enough to feel her warmth, "I missed you too, but then, you probably knew that already."

"Indeed, I did, that was one reason I came by," Chikane turned and kissed the young woman deeply, "The other reason was to ask you to move in with me."

The door had opened before either of them knew it and Makoto gasped as she saw Chikane and Himeko embracing each other. Looking over, Himeko's eyes widened and she quickly stood, leaving Chikane to face plant on the couch with a muffled scream of shock. For the blond it was about the shock of finding out that she had been seen in such a position by her friend. There was no embarrassment but she was still Himeko and she still became embarrassed easily. She excused herself to the kitchen to make another cup of coffee while Chikane extracted her face from the couch cushion with as much dignity as she could muster in such a position.

Makoto sad down in a chair and silently watched her.

The dark haired woman could tell by the look on Makoto's face what was going on behind her eyes, she was good at reading people, "I'm sorry you had to find out this way. It must be painful."

The brown haired girl looked down, "I knew... I knew I never had a chance, but as much as I keep telling myself it still hurts. And with the princess of Himemiya Industries... I never would have imagined."

Chikane set down the tea she had been sipping on and sighed, "First, don't call me a princess. Second, it's natural to hurt, but it will only hurt more if Himeko never knows. Trust me, keeping a secret like this never helps you."

Makoto watched a look of pain wash over the young woman's face, "You look like you know a lot about it."

"... Do you believe in reincarnation?"

Himeko entered and placed a cup in front of Makoto who picked it up and took a small sip, slowly, "What are you two talking about?"

Chikane stood, "Where is your bathroom?"

"Just around the corner... But it's probably not very clean by your standards," Himeko realized what she said and quickly added, "I mean we keep it clean, but you have maids that take care of that, and, um, you know, I just think it would be cleaner if-"

"Hush," Chikane said gently, "I get it. Makoto has something to talk to you about," the dark haired woman looked over to Makoto, "Don't you?"

The brown haired young woman just nodded as Chikane walked off. As the door to the bathroom closed, Himeko noticed that her friend looked reserved. It was a look that told her that whatever was about to be said between the two would not be easily started. Himeko tried to get the conversation started.

"Is the tea okay?" The blond asked, "I could get you another if you want."

"Himeko," Makoto took a deep breath, "I love you."

The pause was so palpable a hammer would have had trouble breaking through it, finally Himeko responded, "I, can't. I'm sorry, Makoto, I just can't. I love Chikane-chan with all my heart, she-"

"I know!" Makoto yelled as tears poured down her cheeks, "I've known from the beginning that you couldn't love me like that! All of this time I was hoping you would forget but I knew you wouldn't. I was a friend only. That's all I can ever be, I was fine with that until now. I thought it would be fine if you actually found who you were looking for, because I want you to be happy. Now you are happy," Makoto let a few sobs pass through her before she continued, "But even so, even so, it hurts. I never thought it would hurt this bad! I never wanted this pain!"

Himeko slid next to the young woman and cradled Makoto in her arms, "It's okay, Makoto, I'm sorry I hurt you but you're going to be okay. If it's you, you'll get through this. I know you won't let this get to you because you are my friend, I've lived with you for years now."

"I want to," Makoto said, "But this pain still won't go away."

The blond woman squeezed Makoto tighter, "I know, being separated from the one you love hurts bad, so bad that you never want it to happen. Once is too much... twice would be... unbearable. It will hurt for a while, and it may never end, but you must always move forward. For every heartbreak there is always someone waiting to put the pieces back together. A friend, a family member, or even someone else that loved you. As long as you keep moving forward, facing the pain and finding your one shining truth, you will get through this."

"How would you know, you never even loved anyone before Miss Himemiya," Makoto sound bitter but Himeko could tell her tears were nearing an end.

Himeko paused for a second, unsure of whether she should reveal everything, "I, um, well..."

Chikane entered the room and saved her suddenly, "We know because we have both loved before. Only we were ripped apart by fate just as we realized our feelings."

Finally the brown haired girl stopped crying all together, wiping her face free of tears, and Himeko backed away from her, "I'm not sure I understand."

Sitting down, Chikane picked up her tea and took a sip of it, offering for Makoto to do the same in hopes that it would calm her slightly, "I was asking before if you believe in reincarnation. It's important to believe because that is how Himeko and I knew one another before. Many times I have been the priestess of the moon and she the priestess of the sun. Each new life we had to choose to sacrifice love for the fate of the earth. I do not know the exact number but it's been more than twice."

Himeko looked down and smiled bitterly, "Every single time, we loved each other. But the last time... The last time was a little more painful than normal. By the time I realized what was going on it was too late. I had happy times with Chikane-chan but then the world came crash down around both of us..."

"When I found out that one of us would have to sacrifice ourselves I was determined for it to be me," Chikane closed her eyes, "I tried to make Himeko hate me, I did horrible things to her. Even with all the things I did, I never expected her to know me so well, or to love me that deeply. Neither of us could be the sacrifice so I was punished for my evil and imprisoned. I knew I would be reincarnated but it still hurt to separate like that. Even though I wanted her to find me again, part of me thought she would never forgive me."

"I did though," Himeko said.

Makoto looked like she was ready to cry, "I had no idea you two had been through so much. I'm sorry for forcing my problems on you. And here I thought you were just normal people."

"We did it so you would understand," Chikane said, "It's unfortunate that you were in love with Himeko but the important thing is those feelings. The capacity to love is a good feeling but it causes pain sometimes. Not only for you but for others. There are too many people in the world for emotions in general to be so limited. I guarantee that the person you love will be loved by another somewhere. In our case, Himeko was loved by Souma and I was, well, let's just say I was a kind of school idol."

Finishing her tea, Makoto took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh, "I understand, it may take some time but I promise I'll move forward. If it worked out for you two it should be fine for me. Now what is it that you wanted to talk to me about."

At this point, Himeko felt like she might be adding insult to injury but it was better to lay all cards on the table, "I'm thinking of moving in with Chikane-chan. The thing is, I really don't want to leave you alone but I also really want to stay with her."

"I think that would help me," Makoto said softly, "I need some time and that would be good for me. You'll still stop by from time to time, right?"

"Of course," Himeko sounded shocked, "I would never abandon a friend. I'll wait until you're ready though. I understand that you need time."

Makoto stood, "Okay, then I'm going to grab a drink."

Though it sounded like she was just going to drink her worries away, Himeko knew that it was her way of pressing on, Makoto had a quite social life after all, "I'm glad. I knew you were strong Makoto. Thank you for everything, I'll definitely come by whenever you're ready."

Makoto turned and made her way towards the door before she turned once more, "Himeko?"

"Yeah,"

"You told me to find my light," Makoto looked down for a second, "What was your light and how did you know?"

The blond thought for a second before responding, "My light was one that shines even in the darkest places, the light of the moon that shows you the way when you are lost. Mine was Chikane-chan. You'll know yours when you find it, I can't explain it but it's a different feeling."

Makoto looked up with a smile, "Thank you, I'll definitely find my light. I hope you stay with yours, you look so much happier."

With that, the woman was out the door, Himeko hoped she found what she needed to get through this because she was a friend. Chikane felt the same way in truth, she knew how it felt to be in love with someone and not have them give the feeling back. That was the whole reason she had done what she did to Himeko in their past life. Somehow, she knew that everything would be fine for Makoto, she was a good person and bad things did not happen to people like her. Not in this life.

------------------------(Sniffles)-----------------------------------

I know I said this wouldn't be too depressing but that last scene was pretty bad. I tried to make it end as good as possible, but somehow I kept feeling as if I was just brushing it off. Like "poor you, get over it". Believe me, that's not what I was going for. Also, there were some changes to sentence structure as some of the sentence were a little too dramatic, so they made me laugh instead. I'm not 100 sure that this came out as I wanted but then again I tend to be my own worst critic. If you ask me I don't even belong writing but everyone keeps saying it's good and I DO enjoy it. About the whole last chapter, I don't think I'll be calling Chikane a "cow" anymore. I just about fell out of my chair when I realized I put that in there. Granted, it goes with Girochi's attitude but the shock value isn't worth it. It was slightly amusing in a "oh my god what did I just do" kind of way.

All I want to say is that I hope you enjoyed this chapter and more are on the way. Though the exact number of how many more is unknown since I need to find a way to get to my ending. That's right, I have an ending and that's a start to completing a good story instead of leaving it half-finished with everyone cursing you... Ahem, not that I've done that before... Really.


	11. Make a Move

A Meeting and A Dream.

A K.N.M. Fan fiction.

I do not own Kannazuki no Miko, this story belongs to me however. Please respect the ideas of myself, and others. Thank you.

NOTE: Let's see, not much to say here.

Chapter 11: Making a Move.

Himeko looked at the last of her personal things as she closed the suitcase with a snap. It had been fun, a lot had happened since the time she had been in the place and she knew she would always have memories. It was a natural thing to move in with the person you loved, to want to be close to them as much as possible. The blond grabbed the suitcase and walked to the door, feeling the same thing you feel when you think you left something important behind. Taking a deep breath, Himeko opened the door and stepped out of the apartment, possibly forever. She was leaving behind something important, her home, but only to move into a new home. Memories were there to remind you, and she would always remember all of the fun times she had in her old home. Silently she whispered her goodbye and stepped out the door.

Downstairs, Chikane was waiting for her, "You finished?"

Himeko looked back for a second before walking forward, she would take the same advice she gave Makoto and move forward, "Yes, thank you for waiting."

"Not a problem," Chikane embraced the woman with one arm and gave her a gentle but firm embrace, "For the person I love, there I would wait forever. No, that's a lie, I can't keep my hand off you."

Giggling, Himeko put a balled hand up to cover her mouth, "I think Chikane-chan is actually a wolf."

"That would make you little red riding hood," The other woman whispered throatily as she nuzzled the blonds neck, "And I would have to say I can't keep my paws off you."

Imagining Chikane with wolf ears and a bushy wagging tail made Himeko laugh more, "You're bad, Chikane-chan. I wouldn't have you any other way though."

Kissing the woman on the lips deeply, the blue haired woman smiled, "I love you, Himeko, I will never get tired of saying. I. Love. You."

The driver took the luggage as they approached the car and the two woman climbed in the back seat as the trunk closed and the man entered the car himself. Himeko had ridden in the car once before but she was still entranced by how spacious and luxurious it was. Chikane did not make use of the extra space. It was not like Himeko really cared that the woman was close to her, but it seemed a waste to leave the open space. Shifting slightly she managed to lay out on the back seat so that her back was against the closed door and, locked luckily, while Chikane was on top of her. The two spent a good five minutes kissing each other before they heard a loud cough. Looking up they noticed the the car was not moving.

"As much as you two seem to be... enjoying one another's company," The driver said politely, "Please put on you're seatbelt. While I do not disapprove of the relationship, I do disapprove of getting a ticket and putting the ladies life in danger."

The two did as they were told, acting like two children being scolded, and were forced to sit normally in their seats. This had the effect of effectively separating the two lovers and leaving them at a loss of what to do with their left over passion. Slowly and silently the trip progressed before Himeko felt something touch her leg.

"Chikane-chan," the blond mumbled as she tried to removed the hand without the driver knowing, "We'll get in trouble again."

The hand returned to its place, "It's okay, as long as we stay buckled in he won't say a thing."

She was probably right, the blond supposed, he seemed more concerned for their safety, "Fine, but try to be discreet. You know how easily I get embarrassed.

"I think it's cute," Chikane leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "So innocent and naive, I'm amazed that more people haven't tried to steal you from me."

Blushing, Himeko clasped her hands together, "Dummy, Chikane-chan," Himeko said without any real harshness, "Why do you have to tease me so much?"

The blue haired girl gave her another kiss, "As I said, it's because you're so cute when you get embarrassed. We're here."

-----------------------------(Makoto again, closure)------------------------

The brown haired woman woke with quite a pain in her skull, feeling as if she had just taken a blow from a ball peen hammer to the skull. Groaning, she rolled over to reach for the alarm clock and see what time it was, at least she tried to. In her way was a body, definitely not female, and snoring loudly. Makoto panicked and fell out of the bed in an effort to get away. The person stirred and sat up blinking his eyes, his black hair messy and unkempt but not making him any less recognizable. Oogami Souma stared back at her with about he same amount of confusion she had.

"Uh, where am I?"

Makoto blinked and looked around, it was not a love hotel at least, "My apartment."

Souma went to get out of bed but realized something about his current situation and stopped, "Why am I here? For that matter, why am I naked?"

The brown haired woman stood from where she had fallen and quickly grabbed a robe laying next to her bed to cover herself, "I remember a lot of alcohol and a conversation about Himeko. You remember her don't you."

Smiling bitterly, Souma nodded, "How could I forget, she broke more hearts than she ever knew. I guess she broke yours to."

Makoto blushed and sat on the edge of the bed, "I guess I was pretty drunk, you must have been to, to end up in this situation."

Souma nodded and reached over the side of the bed to grab his pants laying on the floor. Sliding them on under the covers, he wiggled around until they were in place before buttoning them up. Then he got up and started to gather his other clothes off the ground. Makoto was stuck looking at his form and he walked around the room.

"I think I can see why I picked you up," The brown haired girl muttered, "I don't even remember what happened."

Souma looked around after he had slipped on a shirt and shoes, "Did someone recently start to move out?"

Makoto sighed, "I guess it was not good after all. I use to live with Himeko until that woman stole her from me. Not that she was mine to begin with, I guess I'm just a little bitter. That princess gets everything she wants."

The man sighed, looking over at her, "Not as much as you would think."

"How could you know anything about it?"

"Would you believe I'm a reincarnation of one of the eight necks of the Orochi?" Souma asked.

Makoto rolled her eyes, "Try me, I can believe anything at this point."

It was a good chance to let loose with everything that was bothering him, for all he knew that had already been done anyways, "Well, I'm actually suppose to be on a mission to kill both Kurusugawa Himeko and Himemiya Chikane. I don't want to, it's not like they have done anything to hurt me. Those two deserve happiness more than anyone else I know."

"You know, they told me a similar story," Makoto said, "Something about being priestess of the sun and the moon. It's all kind of surreal for me, but I could tell they were not lying. Maybe... If I help them find their happy ending, do you think I could find mine?"

Souma paused and looked over at her before he turned away and scratched the side of his face slightly, "It's possible. I can help if you want, Miss Himemiya doesn't trust me so you would probably be able to get closer to them. That way it we could help each other out."

"I would like that," Makoto responded, "Maybe I could find my light to."

The man looked over at her strangely, "What?"

"Oh, nothing."

"Okay, I have to get going," Souma looked at his watch, "Do you mind if I come by later. I feel as though we should talk a little more about this."

Makoto nodded, "That's fine, see ya."

----------------------------(Hmm, not sure what's going on here)--------------

Himeko gasped at the sheer size of the place, it was an apartment in itself. Chikane grinned at the blonds reaction and placed her arms around Himeko's neck, giving her a peck on the top of the head. There was no way Himeko could react to the sheer size, it was just too much to take in, she felt it was too much, in fact.

"I don't deserve this," Himeko whispered with a dry mouth, "Chikane-chan, this is way too much for me."

"Nonsense," Chikane hugged her close, "Now let's get inside, I bet you're going to be surprised."

She was not kidding, the inside was filled with everything Himeko could ever want in a home, and more that she had never even thought she would need. There was room for more people than just the two of them and it was hard to imagine that they would be the only ones living here. It was so shocking that she stopped dead in her tracks and fell to the floor.

"This is just too much, this home, having you," Himeko looked at Chikane who was grinning at her in amusement, "I just don't deserve all of this. It's everything I've ever wished for, I feel like this is a castle."

Bending over and helping her up, Chikane gave her a quick hug, "Though you may think different, you deserve every single part of this. For showing me that there are still people that care about more than money and power. You broke the shell that I had created around myself for so long, you did a wonderful thing, my angel, and that is why you deserve this."

The house was not empty in the least, maids traveled throughout the rooms and inspected them, making sure they were clean and well prepared. One of them, obviously the head maid with French curls and carrying a tray, came up to them with a smile. On the tray was a pair of keys and a letter in an envelope which she presented to Himeko.

"My name is Otoha," The maid said as she presented the tray, "They key is for the house, I request you read the letter later."

Himeko nodded and took the letter and the key, "Thank you, Otoha-san."

The blond was then led to her room where Chikane and Himeko were left alone, Chikane told them to give them a few minutes alone. Otoha bowed and walked off, leaving Himeko and Chikane alone in the room. It was a room that would befit a princess, frills around the edges of the white bedding and a look of overall softness. If the house was a castle this was the private chamber of the princess. With a smile the blond jumped onto the bed and felt herself sink deep into the mattress as if it was trying to enclose her. Second later, she felt a wait as Chikane joined her, grinning like a mad woman as she turned to face her blond companion. Himeko rolled over and gave her a deep kiss, grasping her and pulling her close into her embrace with a passionate kiss. In a flurry they started to roll around on the bed, fighting for the top position. Himeko managed to grab a pillow and swing it at Chikane who dodged it and grabbed another pillow and swung back. The blond failed to dodge and retaliated with a flurry of hits that was returned in kind. After a half an hour Himeko tripped and fell with a surprised look on top of Chikane, the two girls breathing happily as feathers that had escaped from the pillows rained down around them.

Chikane grinned, "You like it on top?"

Blushing the blond rest her head on the blue haired girls chest, "It's not bad, the view is good."

"Oh really," Chikane pulled her up and kissed her, "The views pretty good here too."

The two grinned but Himeko quickly sobered up, "Did you really mean to quit your job. You seem to like music, I'm not sure I can get in the way of that."

Chikane hugged the girl tightly, "Ah, I think my lovely angel misunderstood. What I meant is that I would not go on tour anywhere. I'm still going to make music, after all, you seem to enjoy my piano playing."

Himeko sighed in relief, "Oh, I was so worried that you were going to give up other things that brought you joy just because of me. It's troublesome because it brings me joy to here your music."

"Then you should be happy, I'll be here every day to give you that joy," Chikane replied, "By the way, what did you ever do with those pictures you took? I wanted to see them."

Himeko blinked in surprise, "Oh! The pictures of my beautiful princess? There are copies in my luggage, I'll have to find them once I unpack."

"Are all of your pictures there?" Chikane asked before she kissed the woman deeply and said, "I want to see all the pictures you took. If my hobby brings you joy I want to see how you see the world by looking at the pictures you shot."

"They probably aren't that good," Himeko said but when Chikane made a disappointed face she added, "Then again they were good enough to get me this far, so I can show them to you once I find them."

Smiling, Chikane gave Himeko another kiss, "I'm glad."

-----------------------(PILLOW FIGHT!)------------------------

Bwahahahahaha, I have accomplished my ultimate goal of writing a pillow fight into a piece of fiction! Okay, it may not have been my ultimate goal but I had plenty of fun writing it, as unnecessary as it was, but it sure did make a good scene. I had three goals in this chapter, fluff, Himeko and Chikane discussing a job, and closure for Makoto. And fluff. My thinking is that pillows are fluffy and usually lead to a scene of intimacy... so yeah, I really don't know how it happened but forgive me if you're offended. For the record, no Souma and Makoto did not get intimate like that. You'll see what I mean next chapter. I'll just say that sometimes you drink too much and can't stay awake.


	12. Parental Meeting

A Meeting and A Dream.

A K.N.M. Fan fiction.

I do not own Kannazuki no Miko, this story belongs to me however. Please respect the ideas of myself, and others. Thank you.

NOTE: Let's see, not much to say here.

Chapter 12: Parent Meeting.

Morning was wonderful, Himeko decided, she had never felt they were particularly wonderful before but now she felt that nothing could replace them. She felt arms surrounding her in an embrace that she was currently matching. Such soft, smooth, white skin could never have been in her imagination before they had met. The voice that was commanding but soft, soft only for her, blue eyes that many thought were made of ice. To her those eyes, closed as they were now, were like the shore water of a tropical island for her, warm and glimmering. Long dark blue hair that flowed the length of her back and ended just below her knees like a cascading shimmering night. Himeko knew every part of the body she lay next to, secrets that few shared.

A hand moved up to pet the woman's blond hair and Chikane opened her eyes to see Himeko smiling at her with those amethyst eyes that held no secrets. The honest innocence that Chikane had so loved when they had met the first time, every first time they met she was struck by the beauty of them. So open and caring, people like Himeko hardly existed today and if they did they were inevitably twisted to look different than they really were. The golden blond hair that framed her face and continued to flow down the length of her back was the sun itself, it did not reflect light, it almost seemed to produce its own. Her skin was soft but it had a roughness that told of hard times, Chikane had never had hard times like Himeko. Everything that was provided for Chikane was what Himeko worked hard to obtain. With every thing you receive that must be a sacrifice, how much had she sacrificed compared to Himeko though? Not enough.

"Morning, love," Himeko said with a smile, "You have a good sleep?"

Chikane smiled as she continued to slowly stroke the blonds hair, enjoying the feeling, soft as it was, "The best, nightmares could never touch me with you by my side."

"The lady is to kind," Himeko replied, "Taking such joy in the bedding of a mere commoner."

It was a game that Himeko liked to play sometimes, a satire of ancient Japanese culture that would have none of what they were doing, "Ah, did you not know, when this lady is with you she sees not the restrictions of such boorish thoughts."

The blond giggled, "I'm lucky to have you, Chikane-chan."

"And I you, my golden haired angel," Chikane replied with a smile.

There was a knock on the door suddenly and Otoha entered, "Mistress, there is a call for you... It's your mother."

Looking slightly shocked, Chikane took the phone and put it to her ear, "Mother?"

"Chikane-san," That was right, it was how she talked to her in public, "I hope you don't mind, I'm coming to visit you. I heard you were going to set up a new life in Mahoroba and I thought I'd come to see you."

This was a code to Chikane, one she knew well, "I see, everything will be ready for your arrival, mother."

"Very good, Chikane-san," Her mother sighed, "Hold on dear... I know, I'll tell her in a second... You're father is quite troublesome. We miss you Chikane," There it was, they had just walked into a private area, "Your father wants to talk to you."

There was some rustling around before a male voice sounded from the other end, "Chikane?"

"Yes father," The dark haired woman answered.

"Oh, I've been wanting to hear your voice for so long!" The voice at the other end of the phone paused, "We don't have much time before the plane leaves, we'll be there in a few hours. I hear you've found someone."

Chikane paused, this was it, "Ah, yes, father, about that, could we wait until you get here to talk about it? I have a lot to do before you get here."

"I see," There was disappointment there, "Well I guess I can wait. I'm so excited though, to think my little ice princess had her heart melted. I wish I could hear about the lucky man."

"... Father..." Chikane took a deep breath, "I have to go, I'll talk to you when you get here."

Hanging up the phone, Chikane turned to Himeko with a look of trepidation, "This is not good."

"What's wrong?"

Chikane turned to Otoha, "Have the maids get the house prepared. My parents are coming."

Without speaking, Otoha left and Chikane got out of bed and put on a bathrobe. Walking towards the door she turned the knob before turning back towards Himeko.

"Himeko, I need to think," The dark haired girl smiled, "Don't worry, I just need some time to myself. Please try not to worry yourself or I'll be too distracted. I love you."

The blond could tell that something was really bothering her, she was unusually cold, "I understand. I love you too, Chikane-chan."

"There are two bathing areas in the house," Chikane said, "Feel free to use the other one if you do not wish to wait."

The smile that was shown to her was full of real warmth, showing her that everything would work out. Himeko sighed and lay there in the bed by herself. It was a big bed, it felt even more so when she was alone. Putting her hand on the warm area next to her where the object of her affection once lay, Himeko clenched her fist and grabbed the sheets. It would be fine, this was something they both knew would come. The blond rose from bed, feeling a little lonely and slipped on a bathrobe that was next to the bed for her, along with some slippers. Making her way into the hall, she ran into a maid who led her to the bathing area. Once she arrived there the maid began to help her undress, an embarrassing thing for her, and was helped to wash her back. Her arm had to be kept elevated so that the cast did not get wet but it was comforting nonetheless. When the maid was done washing her, she decided to soak for a little bit in the hot bath. The maid exited quietly, Himeko closed her eyes and relaxed, feeling the water loosen her muscles and wash the worries away from her mind.

Though she did not notice, the door to the bath opened and someone approached from behind with quiet padding of feet. She did notice when arms wrapped around her from behind and hot breath brushed against her ear followed by a gentle nibble. Himeko gasped before giving a sigh of pleasure as her ears were played with.

"That feels good," The blond said in a whisper.

There was a chuckle from behind her, "You're so cute."

Himeko put her arms around the other womans, "Don't be cruel, Chikane-chan. Weren't you going to bath separately?"

Slowly arms released her before there was a splashing sound and the water rippled as Chikane joined her, "I was, but I found it impossible to be away from you for that long so I just scrubbed myself clean before joining you. Sorry for worrying you. It's just that my parents are coming and they tend to be a little overzealous when there is talk of relationships. I still have not told them about us."

The blond put her arms around Chikane and hugged her, "You love me, don't you? That should be enough for them."

Chikane hugged her back with a sigh, "My dear Himeko, you are naive as they come, I love you for it, but sometimes you look at things a little simply. I would not worry so much if that were the only problem, remember, I am the 'princess of Himemiya Industries'. They are very concerned about social status and even more concerned about my wellbeing. If they see something that may cause trouble for me they try to eliminate it."

The woman waited for that last sentence to sink in with Himeko, and when it did the blond when pale, "You mean they would try to... Separate us?"

Nodding, Chikane hugged her tight, "I won't let it happen, Himeko, my angel, it will never be like that."

"I don't want you to go, Chikane-chan," Himeko sounded as if she was ready to cry.

Petting the girl, Chikane whispered soothingly, "I told you, I'm not going anywhere. Never. Not for the public and not for my parents. The heavens can't tear us apart, my job is to protect the one I love from pain."

The blond seemed to settle down a bit at the blue haired woman's words and sunk comfortably into her arms. Together the two rested like that for a while before there was a knock on the door and Otoha walked in.

"Excuse me for intruding," The woman said, "I was told by the lady to inform you when breakfast was ready."

Nodding, Chikane replied, "Thank you, Otoha-san, the two of us will be down shortly."

Otoha bowed and exited before the two women followed shortly after, dressing and walking downstairs. When they entered the dinning room the huge table was full of food of all kinds, Himeko gasped as she saw all of the food. She sat down and stared at the food in front of her in awe, Chikane sitting across from her with an amused look on her face.

"Amazing," Chikane remarked more to herself than anyone else, "You really intrigue me to no end, Himeko."

The woman looked up at the smiling face of her loved one and blinked, "Why do you keep saying things like that? I'm not really that special."

Chikane picked up her eating utensils, "You keep responding like that also, but I submit to you that the one you love is always the most special thing in the world. Do you understand, Himeko? Every movement, every word, everything you do inspires joy in me."

"That's not true," Himeko said quietly, "I also caused you pain. If I hadn't been so indecisive in the past..."

"Himeko," Chikane gazed at her with a gentle expression, "You can't change the past. No matter what, the past has already happened. The important thing is that we are here, together. People learn from the past, look to the future, but they have to live right now. We enjoy our lives together now, free from what happened and never doomed to repeat it because we have learned our lesson."

The blond looked at her plate, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath to calm herself, "Yes, I understand, it's just that so much happened back then. I'm sorry if I worry you, Chikane-chan."

"Good, if you understand then eat," Chikane said with a smile, "It would be a shame to let all of the this food go to waste."

-----------------------------(STOP... hammer... time...?)----------------

Makoto turned as she heard a knock on the door, it was late in the afternoon and nobody was expected to come. Walking slowly to the door she peeked out the view hole and saw familiar dark hair and brown eyes peering back at her. Opening the door she found Souma dressed in an expensive looking business suit. The man smiled at her and nodded wordlessly as Makoto let him inside.

"I'm surprised you actually came back," The brown haired woman said.

Souma turned calmly after looking around the place, "So she finished moving out?"

Makoto looked down at the floor, "Yeah."

"You doing okay?" The man asked as he walked towards her, "I know it must be hard."

"Not really," The woman replied as she put on a smile, though she was not really feeling it, "It helps to be away from her actually. I can think a little more clearly. Oh, sorry! Please have a seat, would you like some tea?"

The man was still smiling warmly, "I'm glad you're okay, thank you, I will take some tea."

Souma sat down and waited for Makoto to come back in the room, when she did he said, "Nothing really happened you know."

Makoto was confused at first but when she saw his face she came to a realization, "Oh! I'm glad, but how do you know?"

"... Let's just say I could tell," Souma said with a slight redness to his face which Makoto found adorable, he really was a nice guy, "I think that we probably did start to do it, that's why we were both naked, but I fell asleep. Probably."

The brown haired woman paused with a shocked look before giggling, "You can't hold your alcohol, can you?"

Once again the man blushed, "Well, not really, no. I had never really drank before that, the meeting just brought back too many memories. I'm sorry, I just came by to tell you that. I'll be going if you want."

Makoto smiled, "Nonsense, we both have a lot to talk about, and you have tea to finish. I'm not rich enough to waste it you know."

Surprised, Souma quickly apologized, "Uh, oh, right. I am sorry for my rudeness."

"It's fine," Makoto could not believe this man was still free, any woman would be more than satisfied by him, not that she was interested, not in the least, she was just thinking, that was it.

"So what did you want to talk about?"

His voice brought Makoto back to the present, "Oh, right, well..."

--------------------(Himitsu!)-------------------------------------

Otoha answered the knock on the door and opened it to find a middle aged man with short slicked back ashy hair standing next to a woman near the same age with her black hair done up in a bun in back. Realizing who it was she quickly bowed deeply and invited the two of them inside, taking their belongings and showing them to a seat. Other maids quickly brought them tea and made sure their needs were met as Otoha went to tell Chikane that her parents had arrived. She knew that this was going to be an interesting meeting for the three to say the least. Then there was Miss Kurusugawa, truthfully, Otoha was a little worried for her. The poor girl had no idea what the parents were like, silently the head maid decided to help out in any way she could. She knocked on the door to Chikane's room and the woman answered with a sigh.

"I'll be down in a second," Chikane said, "Please have them wait just a little longer."

"Yes, Miss Chikane," Otoha left and made her way back to the room where the two parents were waiting, "Miss Chikane will be down in a few minutes, may I assist you with anything?"

Shaking her head, the middle aged woman said, "No thank you, Otoha-san. Thank you for accepting this request to help out our daughter, by the way. I hope she is doing okay."

Otoha bowed low and rose, "It is I who should thank you for allowing me this chance to serve. The both of you have been most gracious to me."

The two of them smiled, and Otoha politely excused herself from the room, Chikane coming down minutes later with Himeko standing shyly next to her. There was much staring by the two parents before Chikane sat down with the blond next to her, across from her parents. Her father took a sip of tea before setting it down and clearing his throat.

"So, you brought a friend," The man said, "I'm glad you have a friend but I'm not sure what she is here for. We have important matters to discuss, the man you have found for one."

Chikane took a deep breath, "And that is why Kurusugawa-san has everything to do with this."

The woman smiled as she could see the surprise on Himeko's face at the way she was introduced, "Chikane..."

The blond went silent as she saw the look aimed at her by the two parents, "I see," It was the woman who responded.

"Further more," Chikane said, "What I do from now on is of my own choosing. If you choose not to support my decision it will simply not matter."

Her father sighed, "This is a little surprising. I'm not sure I get what you're saying."

"I'm saying that the person I love is Kurusugawa Himeko," Chikane said firmly, causing her parents to gasp.

The initial shock wore off quick enough, "Do you have any idea how much trouble this will be? You need to think of your position! You are my daughter, next in line to inherit Himemiya Industries, for you to do this is outrageous!"

Himeko shrunk back at the stern, yet not quiet yelling, it was more effective than any overpowering yell she had experienced, "I understand completely what I'm doing father. This is my life, if you do not support what I do then I must break my ties with you," Himeko looked like she wanted to say something but was silenced by a look from Chikane, "I'm sorry, but this is the way it is. This is something that I must follow my heart on."

"Chikane," The man grit with a high level of control on his obvious anger, "For you to go this far... You think this person is worth it? Is she high is social status? Does she have money? What kind of job does she have? I can not accept this if she at least is not up to our standards."

"As I said," Chikane took a sip of tea and replied, "this is something you will not change. I have decided."

"Preposterous," Chikane's father was livid now, "I will never-"

"Dear," All at once he went silent, "You're causing the poor girl to tremble," With a sigh, the man looked at Himeko and sat down and tried to calm himself.

"Thank you, mother," Chikane acknowledged but did not let her guard down.

The older woman took a sip of tea calmly before setting her tea down, "I must say, at first I thought you were joking or that this might be a phase. However, as insistent as you are on this matter I will have to take into consideration that you are very serious. If that is the case, then whatever is said will not persuade you against it."

"Mother, I-"

Holding up a hand, the woman stopped her daughter from talking, "I would advise that you not expect us to accept it fully at first. We will continue to support you, but until we really know Kurusugawa-san there is no way we can know if we can support you. If you will allow it, and I would advise that you do, I would like your father and I to talk to Kurusugawa-san alone."

There was a long pause before Chikane nodded, "I will allow that, just let me talk to Himeko alone for a minute."

The older woman nodded, "Very well, I will grant your request."

Her parents watched as the two of them walked out the door, "What do you think?"

The father smiled slightly, "I think our daughter has finally decided on her own path. I'm happy, though I had wish for a more traditional relationship. Oh well, we can't do much but support her now."

"I agree, dear."

Outside Chikane took a deep breath as she closed the door, Himeko looked a little fearful until she felt arms hold her tightly and warm tears on her face, "I'm sorry for that, my love, it must have been hard. My parents can be... I just can't let you go, I really would have done what I said. I'm sorry."

Himeko returned the hug tenderly, "I'm fine, Chikane-chan, it's not your fault. Please stop crying, it must have been hard to be like that."

Chikane sniffed and wiped her tears away quickly, "Look at me, my angel has made me so worried that I lost my cool. I must look so horrible right now."

"That's not true, Chikane-chan," Himeko said as she placed a hand on the womans face and kissed her lips, "You could never look horrible."

"I'm glad," Chikane finally broke apart from the embrace, much to Himeko's disappointment, "You had better not keep my parents waiting. They are short on patience."

"Okay," Himeko placed her hand on the door and before she entered she turned and said, "Don't worry, Chikane-chan, I'm sure it will be fine."

Chikane nodded with a smile and watched Himeko reenter the room.

-------------------------------(OMG)-------------------------------

That was the longest most exhausting chapter yet. I know there have been a lot of takes on Chikane and Himeko meet the parents but I figured it was only a natural thing. Also, I did not want them to be saints but I did not want them to be evil either. I hope I succeeded with this. The part with Chikane being so cold with Himeko was kind of hard so I had to place something later to soften it a little. Next is a little talk with Himeko. Hope you like this chapter and thanks for reading.


	13. Interviews And Confessions Over Tea

A Meeting and A Dream.

A K.N.M. Fan fiction.

I do not own Kannazuki no Miko, this story belongs to me however. Please respect the ideas of myself, and others. Thank you.

NOTE: Been a little sick, other than than nothing happened.

Chapter 13: Interviews And Confessions Over Tea.

Sitting with her hands folded across her lap, her amethyst eyes glancing back and forth at the two people across from her, it was obvious that she was nervous. The two across from her were both middle age, wrinkles just starting to show on their now serious faces, the woman with black hair and the man with his hair the color of cooled ash. The woman was wearing an ornate kimono with her hair done up in a bun in back while the man was wearing a gray business suit. She had told Chikane that things would be okay but now she felt some trepidation towards the situation. Nothing had been said for at least a half an hour but everything was being communicated in a wordless stare that seemed needlessly harsh from both the older people. Finally, the mother finished a sip of tea and set it down carefully, gracefully.

"I must say, your patiences is admirable," The woman said, "Let's start with introductions, my name is Himemiya Sayoko."

Setting his tea down with a sigh the man said, "Himemiya Akira."

"Kurusugawa Himeko," The blond replied.

"First I would like to get to know you," Sayoko said with a warm yet professional smile, "What kind of job do you do currently? What are your hobbies? Do you go to school?"

Himeko sipped her tea before taking a deep breath, "I am currently working at a photography parlor. I help take pictures and also use those pictures for my schooling. I'm currently studying to become a photography major at Ototachibana Academy, um my hobbies are pretty much the same as what I do at my job."

"I see," The woman lost her smile, though she was not frowning either, "You seem to enjoy taking pictures."

The blond nodded, "Yes, Chikane-ch... That is, your daughter was supportive of me so I... I've always thought pictures were great and she helped me stay interested."

Sayoko smiled again, Himeko was becoming quiet flustered, "Let me get to the point, you know my daughter has a career in music. She travels around quite a bit, do you intend to stay in school?"

"Um, well, we discussed that," Himeko said as she felt more nervous by the second, "She said she would continue her career from here."

There was a long humming sound from the woman, "So she's that interested in you. It's very hard to run a music career without touring. She just finished a tour so it's not that bad but next year will be different. I assume you still have a few years left of school."

Nodding, the blond looked down, "I did try to talk her out of it but she wouldn't listen to me. I don't agree with it either but-"

Putting up a hand, the woman interrupted her, "You seem to have misinterpreted what I'm asking. What I wanted to know is how serious my daughter was about this. Also, I wanted to know if you knew how hard this was going to be for her. We have supported her all of her life, in a way I'm glad that she decided to speak her mind finally."

Himeko seemed to calm down slightly, "Thank you, I know it will be hard but I'm used to hard times."

"For the final part of this," Sayoko took a sip and set her cup down, "How long have you known my daughter? She has not been here for more than a few weeks. This is is first time in this part of the city in fact.

Himeko went silent, thinking on what to tell them, on the one hand she could tell the truth and look like a mental patient or tell just one part of the truth and be thought frivolous. On the one hand it was always good to tell the truth but on the other hand it would be too much to believe. Even she had trouble believing that she was trapped in an endless cycle of death and rebirth. The blond put her face in her palms and shook her head back and forth.

"Miss Kurusugawa?" Sayoko asked.

Himeko looked up and said, "This is not an easy question. There is a lot more involved in this than a normal person would believe."

Raising an eyebrow, Sayoko said, "Really, so you're saying that you have known my daughter for a while."

"Probably... Probably longer than you have," Himeko said, and she could not look at the woman's face, "Chikane is, that is, we both are priestesses that have lived many lives. In each life we have loved each other. I know how this sounds, it's the truth but it sounds like a story being made up. If it wasn't for the fact that I love your daughter I would wish it to end right now, but... I understand if you think I'm crazy because I sound crazy to myself. I'm sorry."

Sayoko went through many expressions as she heard the story, surprise, disbelief, and finally calm acceptance, "I see, how do you know my daughter is this priestess if she has been reincarnated."

"It was a promise," Himeko said softly, "One that I kept even though I could barely remember her face, I just knew she was out there. It was important to me."

"You seem genuine enough, even if the story is unbelievable," Looking over at Akira, Sayoko asked, "What do you think?"

"Just one more thing," Akira smiled fully and warmly, "You say you love taking photos but what kind of camera do you use?"

As luck would have it, Himeko happened to be carrying her camera, then again maybe it was not luck since she carried it around often so she would not miss a chance. Reaching into her camera bag she produced a large camera, obviously expensive. She handed it to him and he looked it over slowly and inspected each little part of it with a low whistle.

"A DSLR-A700 with a 16mm lens, huh, and here I thought you did not have a lot of money? I assume you have more sizes?" The man asked.

"I saved a long time to get that camera," Himeko said as she began to get the other lenses

The man stopped her, "That's enough, I really just wanted to see how serious you were."

Standing the man put out his hand and Himeko offered hers, he helped her up before embracing her in a warm hug. Himeko blinked and looked totally perplexed by what was going on, "Um..."

Akira let her go and smiled at her, "We were already prepared to accept you, but you met our expectations. I don't mind having another daughter, though I am a little disappointed that I don't get a son this is fine."

Sayoko rose and bowed slightly, "Please take care of our daughter, we will be staying here just a little longer before we have to go on another trip."

--(Exit, stage up)--

While Himeko had been talking to the two middle aged people sitting in the living room, Chikane had taken it upon herself to look through some of the old pictures the blond had taken. They were scattered in disarray while the woman had tried to sort them out, Chikane had told herself she was going to help. In the end she had become distracted by the pictures, there was a certain beauty and innocence in the pictures that reflected the blond woman's soul. As she looked at the pictures she came across a set that was obviously old and taken with a cheaper, non-digital, camera. In every picture there was just Himeko. She was in poses that indicated someone else was suppose to be there but they were missing. For a second Chikane had thought the pictures edited or fakes but a look at the time stamp on back proved her wrong.

These pictures were not fake, or edited, they were uncensored views of something that Chikane could not quite grasp. Gently she brushed one of the pictures where it looked as though the blond was embracing someone and she felt sad. There was nothing tangible about what had made her feel this way, nothing that should make her feel sad but nonetheless she was. Then she saw it, a necklace with a single pink seashell hanging from the blonds neck, she had never seen Himeko wear such a necklace in her time together.

The door opened with a click and Himeko sighed in relief as she entered, "Your parents are scary, Chikane-chan."

Looking up, the woman said nothing for a while, until she looked back down at the picture, "You never wear it."

"Wear what?" Himeko asked as she closed the gap between the two of them, "I'm not sure I know what you're talking about. Is something wrong?"

"No, yes," Chikane closed her eyes and sighed, "I don't know. I was just looking at some old pictures you had and noticed you use to wear a pink seashell necklace similar to mine."

Thinking, Himeko sat next to her companion and looked at the picture, "I remember that necklace but it was a long time ago. I probably still have it but I stopped wearing it in high school. It probably made me too sad."

Chikane ran her hand over the picture, "For some reason it seems like there should be another person here. I can't really place it, but something seems to be missing."

"I got that same feeling," Himeko said softly, looking down at the ground with her hands folded in her lap, "Like something important should be there. I put those away so I would not have to look at them and feel sad. Does it bother you?"

Chikane shook her head and something flashed into her head, "Me..."

"What?" Himeko asked in surprise.

"That's who's missing," The blue haired girl answered softly, "I was the other person in these pictures."

Something about the realization caused Chikane to start to cry and she put a hand over her mouth to stop the sobs. Himeko gasped and hugged the woman close as she sobbed and tears flowed from her eyes, dropping on the picture with a patter. As if to mirror her mood the weather outside suddenly turned gray and built from a slow rain to a large pounding flurry. The blond cradled her love in her arms as she allowed the woman to cry to her hearts content and petted her hair. She felt the sobs running through Chikane and they seemed far away, strange, as if they should belong to some other person and not this iron willed woman.

"I don't know who I really am," Chikane said as her sobs stopped and her tears began to dry, "This life I live right now is not mine."

Himeko squeezed one of Chikane's hands softly to show some strength that she might lend to the woman, "You are you, the life you live is your own. I believe that we are born into a life that we choose. As you grow there are choices you make that determine who you are and how you live. Even if you were reincarnated into a life that overlaps your old life, the old life does not matter because you are living your new life."

"But this picture proves I had another life," Chikane said, now laying flat on the bed with her head in Himeko's lap, "I don't even know if my parents are real."

Using her hands to brush the tears from her love's face, Himeko smiled warmly, "They raised you right, you were born of them. That is all the proof you need. All of your experiences are real and remain with you from one life to the next, so you are always living your life. That belonged to you and this belongs to you now. It does not matter if your history was rewritten as long as you know that reality is what you see. You are not in a dream, you were not given fake memories, everything you experienced from when you met me and after really happened."

The sadness gone, Chikane took a deep breath, "You're right, I was born and raised by my parents, and my life is real. I have memories of a previous life but that does not make this life less real. Thank you, Himeko, I lost myself for a second. Thank you."

Brushing her hand gently through Chikane's dark hair, Himeko smiled, "Good, now promise me that you'll still be the strong Chikane-chan that I know. I'm not made to support you, we need to support each other. Promise me."

"I promise," Sitting up, the dark haired girl gave Himeko a deep kiss, "Don't worry, this princess will protect her angel with all her might. We will both be strong. We must be for both of our futures."

It was then that there was a knock on the door and in walked Otoha, she told the two of them that there was a guest. There was some acknowledgment from Chikane but she seemed distracted by something about the look on her maids face. There was something missing there that the woman could not place, she told the maid to have the guest wait in the same room her parents had been in. Since her parents had retired for the evening after the long trip it would be okay if something happened there since it was far away from the guest room. Chikane started to head down but Himeko grabbed her by the arm and aimed a glance at Chikane that communicated everything. She thought something was strange also.

"We should bring it just in case," The blond said in a whisper, "We have no idea what the Orochi look like this time. If they are the same then it's fine but if even one is different... We can't be too careful."

Going to the closet and taking out the sword, Chikane nodded, "I agree, something about this stinks and I'm not sure if I like the smell. Come on Himeko, we shouldn't keep the guest waiting."

The blond nodded and both of them collected themselves and went downstairs into the waiting room where their guest was. As the entered they realized who it was almost right away, it was the second neck of the Orochi, Miyako. The two women glanced at one another, preparing themselves, but still trying to put on a charade of ignorance. It would be good to figure out what the Orochi were trying to accomplish before they attacked people blindly. There was no guarantee that this was even there doing despite the fact that Miyako was here now.

"Good evening, I'm glad you decided to come down," Woman brushed a hand through her short purple hair, "Your maid was very pleasing. Very hard working."

Chikane had hid the sword behind the couch they were sitting on, quickly enough that the nun could not see it, "I see you are doing well, what seems to be the reason for your visit, sister."

"Oh, I just felt a heart that seemed to need healing," Miyako was quite smooth but it did little to make the two girls drop their guard, "Many past sins to be rectified."

Himeko kept silent, this word game was not one she should get involved in she knew, it was out of her league, Chikane seemed to be a professional at it though, "So you happened to feel these 'sins' as you call it and just give us a visit. I wonder if what you say is true."

"I can assure you it is," The purple haired woman replied, "I can erase your sins and let you live a life in which you are both happy. You must cooperate with us though."

Chikane glanced over at Himeko and then looked back at the woman in front of her, "What if I said we had already taken care of the sins of the past."

"That would not do," The woman pulled a mirror from behind her, "Because it would mean I came her needlessly. It would mean more sins will be created."

Chikane cursed and leapt out of the couch, grabbing Himeko and diving behind it, "What's going on?"

"That woman uses mirrors as her weapon," Chikane replied to Himeko's question, "It what she used on me the last time... Well let's just say she's dangerous."

"Oh my," Miyako did not move from her place on the couch, "It seems that you two are in a bind. My offer still stands you know. It would not do for your girlfriend to get hurt any more than she already is."

Himeko looked up, "It's okay, Chikane-chan, I'll be fine. It's been long enough that I'm almost healed anyways."

Nodding the dark haired woman stood and quickly drew her sword, advancing on the woman who was still smiling unnervingly, "I told you not to let your girlfriend get hurt."

Chikane turned suddenly with a sick realization as she noticed a slight wind in the room, behind her stood the man with white hair, Tsubasa, his blade at Himeko's throat, "Himeko!"

"Drop the sword!" Miyako commanded.

Everything was wrong now, the blond wore a look of terror as she felt the edge of the sword ready to slice her flesh. Chikane felt her grip on the sword loosen slightly, looking at Himeko who was begging for something to happen. For the life of her Chikane could not figure out what her companion wanted, she had little choice though, no sacrifice was worth Himeko's life.

"Drop the sword," This time it was said with less harshness.

Finally, Chikane fell to her knees as the sword clattered on the floor, she knew she was defeated, "Fine, you got us, what do you want?"

Miyako stood and lightly gripped Chikane's chin so that the woman would look at her, "I want you to listen. That is all."

Himeko fell to the ground next to her, finally released by the white haired man, "That was dirty, you should at least fight fair."

"That is not required," Miyako replied as she sat down and once again put the mirror away, "From the beginning a fight was not what I wanted. I know you find it hard to believe but if you listen you will see that we are all trying to find a way."

Chikane was on her knees, being supported slightly by Himeko, "Find a way to what," The blue haired woman asked."

Miyako smiled and leaned forward, "Stop our destinies."

--(Uh, so that's it)--

I feel the need to explain why this took so long, you see I got sick for a while and when I got better there was this whole thing where I lost my place with the writing. Nothing I wrote seemed to be good so I decided to take a break for a few days after than, I was only planning of three or four days at the most. Well it turned into much longer as I got distracted by many different series, including the shojou ai omnibus that is Strawberry Panic and also the excellent R.O.D. Between the two of them they distracted me for many more days than I intended. For this I am truly sorry as I know many of you wanted more chapters a lot quicker. I shall try not to make you wait so long in the future. Again, I apologize.


	14. The Destiny of All

A Meeting and A Dream.

A K.N.M. Fan fiction.

I do not own Kannazuki no Miko, this story belongs to me however. Please respect the ideas of myself, and others. Thank you.

NOTE:

Chapter 14: The Destiny of All

Chikane was looking over at the two with unhidden hatred in her eyes, no matter what they said the past was too much to forget. The woman especially had caused her so much pain that it was hard to keep her hand from separating the womans head from her body. For Himeko it was strange and scary to see her loved one in this kind of mindset, she had never seen such anger in Chikane's eyes. The two woman were separated by no more than ten inches and Himeko slowly slid her hand over to Chikane's and squeezed slightly in an effort to calm the woman. Though just barely, it seemed to work enough.

"You should put a leash on your girlfriend," Miyako commented to Himeko, "She's like a rabid dog waiting to be released."

"Considering what you did to us in the past, I feel close to releasing her," Himeko said, unusually calm and hard, "I will hear what you have to say first. If it's good I'll keep her back... Maybe."

Miyako sighed, "I understand, I'll get to the point then, all of us want to be free of the curse of the Orochi and you want to be free of the curse of the Priestesses of the Godless Month. I believe we can do this if we work together. I have no illusions about how painful this will be, I've seen first hand what it has done to the younger Oogami."

"What do you mean," Chikane asked, calmed but sounding ice cold, "He was fine the last we talked to him."

"Only from what you could see," Tsubasa said as he spoke for the first time that evening, "With the curse of the Orochi there is a penalty if you do not act accordingly. Before long your skin is replaced with scales that eventually rob you of your free will and then prevent you from moving. Since he is not actively against us, the transformation is moving slow right now. However, once we start this plan there is no turning back, eventually all of the Orochi shall be consumed. If we succeed and the curse is broken, however, then we will gain our own will."

"So what do you need us for," Chikane asked, "If you simply need to rebel against your nature then it should be enough for us to stay out of your way."

"That will not be enough," Miyako said, "What we want from you is simple, do not summon Ame no Murakumo. You have the sword so you have the ability to do so, but it will lead to both our death and yours. We also need you to use your power to rebuild the moon shrine, if both of you do it there should be enough strength between the two of you so that one does not need to be sacrificed. Once this happens we should be free of our curse, and you of your destiny."

Himeko looked over at Chikane, "I think I got lost, they're saying that if they do not destroy the world then they will be free. That's all they have to do?"

The blue haired woman nodded, "Yes, if they are each possessed by their curse it will cause all of the Orochi to die out without bloodshed. Once we rebuild the moon shrine... They will be free but there is a possibility that we will be imprisoned. As I was imprisoned before. The power of Orochi will be sealed forever though."

"I think we should at least think about," Himeko said, "I don't mind if we do get imprisoned in the end, because then we will be together and everyone else will be free."

Chikane shook her head, "I'm not sure I could do that."

"I do not expect a decision right away," Miyako said, "Nor do I expect you to believe in us fully. I simply hope that you will consider my offer."

"I have no reason to believe you," Chikane said, "But we will discuss it and there may be a chance we can work something out. I don't think I will ever trust you."

The woman nodded and stood, "That is the best I could hope for," The two of them stood to leave, Tsubasa exiting first and Miyako following but turning before she exited, "I'm glad it worked out for you two. I was needlessly harsh on you."

"A nun shouldn't do things she has to apologize for later," Chikane replied before the purple haired woman walked out the door.

Himeko stared after them, "You think it can be done?"

Chikane looked over at her before she hugged the woman, "We'll find away, my love, we have to. For everyone's sake, both the Orochi and ours."

"I would like to free them also," Himeko said, "They are evil but I think that they will be better if the curse is gone."

Grinning, Chikane kissed Himeko lightly on the lips, "You are naive, but I guess I'm the same because part of me wants to help them also. Even if that woman did try to turn me against you."

This was a surprise that Himeko had not known about, "She was the one who did that. I thought you were trying to turn me against you."

Chikane looked uncomfortable, "I would have never done such a horrible thing if it wasn't for that woman planting ideas in my head. I feel like I should pay her back just to make myself feel better."

"Stop!" Himeko yelled and pushed Chikane off of her, causing the blue haired woman to gasp, "I already told you that I don't like when you talk like that! I don't want you to kill anyone, I know that isn't you! You're nice, and kind, and... and... you would never make me sad. You would never want to hurt anyone..."

"Himeko..." Chikane looked away from the woman, "I'm sorry, I was just angry, there is no way I would have really done it. I'm more angry at myself for being taken in by her plan, I just took it out on her. I'm sorry..."

Chikane received no reply other than the quiet tears that fell from Himeko's eyes as she buried her face in the cushion of the couch. Sadly, the blue haired woman stood and walked out of the room, leaving Himeko to cry alone by herself. Almost in a daze the woman climbed the stairs and entered her room, passing a concerned Otoha who tried to get a response out of her but failed. The bed was so comfortable and soft looking, the bed that the two had shared just last night. Now it seemed big and cold and lonely, Chikane did not want to lay alone in that bed. Instead she sat in a chair and looked out the window at the moonlit night sky for some kind of answer to her problems. There had to be something that would get her life back to normal, she was a normal person. All of the Orochi and priestess business was not what she wanted. She wanted Himeko.

With a sad sigh, Chikane leaned her head back in the chair and felt the night drag on, her eyes getting heavy before she fell asleep in the cold room alone. Where she had been with Himeko in the very same room just hours before, laughing and talking about their past. And about their futures.

--(Downstairs)--

Her tears had stopped, and the woman was now alone on the couch, waiting and hoping that Chikane would come down. She knew it had hurt her, what she had said, but Himeko was hurt also by the fact that she just left. Nothing was said, no goodnight, just leaving without an explanation. Rolling over on to her back, Himeko stared at the ceiling, the fan on low speed made a humming motion as it cut the air and the blond stared at it with a blank mind. It had taken so long and this was all that there was to it, a simple fight and everything was over? It was wrong, this whole thing was wrong, she was just a normal girl who liked to take pictures. She had a normal friend who she now knew was secretly in love with her and probably was not even her friend anymore. After all of the waiting she had finally met the one person she had been holding out for, a rich princess that had come to take her to a safe place. Only the safe place was full of gods and demons and fighting and was not so safe after all. No, that was wrong, she had never had a safe place because everything had been just under the surface, boiling. She was already involved as it was, there was no going back to her old life now, there was no apartment waiting for her or friend to give her words of encouragement.

For the first time in a long time, she was alone, not even Chikane was there to cheer her up. There was another problem. Chikane, the woman she loved with all of her heart was in pain and kept blaming herself for what she did to the blond. It broke her heart to see that her loved one was going through so much pain, but it was even worse to see the other side of her that came out. That angry, spiteful, hateful Chikane that she could not accept because she knew it was not her. It could not be her. Himeko would not have called the blue haired woman cheerful really, but she was kind at the very least. Cold yes, and serious, but never spiteful. Not in front of Himeko, she was always trying her hardest to bear any pain alone so that the blond could find happiness. That was no good though, because through it all it still had not gotten into Chikane's hard head that Himeko was only happy when her companion was happy.

Eventually, the blond stood from the couch and slowly walked upstairs, unsure of what she would find when she entered the room. Would it be in disarray from anger, would Chikane be passed out on a wet pillow, would the blue haired woman even be there. With that thought, Himeko felt herself increase speed towards the room. If all of this had caused the woman to leave, if she really had abandoned Himeko because of what had transpired, the blond would never forgive herself. Reaching the bedroom, she noticed immediately that the bed was empty and ice cold fear gripped her chest. Looking around the room she noticed a figure sitting in a chair, moonlight streaking through to illuminate parts of body that sat there. Hair that hid half a face was illuminated in the moonlight, eyes closed, and almost sliding out of the chair. Himeko sat on the bed and stared quietly at the woman with a feeling of relief.

"I wish those events had never happened," Himeko whispered in the dark, "at least then we would never be in this mess. There will be times when we will argue, I know this, but it still makes me sad to think about it. I don't want to fight with you."

Across from her there was only breathing and silence in the dark and Himeko rubbed her hand over the bed, "Before you came I was lonely, every night I was alone, my room mate never came back, I had no friends, the only family I ever had I ran away from," Himeko paused and choked back a sob, "I don't want to be alone again. Maybe I will get use to it, but that thought terrifies me more than anything. Nobody should be use to being alone. Were you alone, Chikane-chan? All of those nights with your parents around you and your life always filled with friends and family. Did you ever once feel out of place? I want to know, I want to know everything about you. There is so much I know from what has come before and yet there is a lot that I still have to learn about you."

Himeko fell back on the bed and instantly felt tired, "I want to know about you, Chikane-chan," and with that the blond drifted off to sleep.

It was quick enough that she did not feel a weight on the bed, or hot breath on her face, or the soft kiss that was placed on her lips, or hear the words, "I will tell you everything then, but for that we must always be together, because, Himeko, I wish to find out more about you as well."

The words over and the night turning into morning left two tired women nestled in each others arms. Slowly the clock ticked and counted down the hours to the day they would face their destiny once again, but neither of them were conscious of that fact. For them there was only moments that blended into memories, and memories that made a life.

--(Riiiight, I'm fine.)--

When she woke the next morning she was alone, the big bed empty but there was a warmth there that indicated that a person had been there. The blond ran her hand over it sadly, she had really wanted to talk to Chikane last night, to make up with her. She knew that what she had done was horrible, treating her as if she were evil. It had not been her fault that she had that reaction, not really, she just remembered things that she did not want to remember.

Himeko felt as though she had done something irreparable to Chikane, something she could not take back. For all that she had said that they would always be together, it was surprisingly easy to part ways when they were mad. The blond rolled out of bed and put on her bathrobe, making her way towards the bathing area on this floor. Stripping, she wrapped herself in a towel and opened the door to the main area were the bath was. Since they had moved in she had not been able to enter the main bath but as big as the secondary bathing area was this one was twice the size. Steam covered the area so she could not see that well and the whole area was humid and warm. Sitting, Himeko washed and rinsed her body before entering the bath and sitting back against the edge of the bath.

Moving her hands through the water, the blond felt the warmth of the bath flow around her, "I did a horrible thing to you, didn't I? Could you forgive me, just a little bit? I know that you were just angry and that you would never have really done it. I was just scared. I was scared because there is a possibility that people really will die. You or me, or any other person that we know. I don't want anyone to die."

She had been speaking to herself, not thinking of her surroundings and thinking that nobody else was in the bath with her, so it was a surprise when she heard a low voice speak from in front of her, "I never blamed you, Himeko. I was hurt when you did that, but I never thought it was your fault."

Though the body was hidden in the mist, the woman knew who it was by the sound of the voice alone, "Chikane-chan?"

"Yes," The woman answered, "I'm sorry for what happened last night, I just lost my cool."

Himeko shook her head, "No, I hurt you. I over reacted and because of that you got hurt."

There was a slight ripple in the water as she heard Chikane move around, "The look on your face did hurt me. I did not know what to say last night and I figured you would be better left alone for a little while. When I heard you last night I knew that was a mistake though."

The blond sunk down in the water slightly, "I didn't know you heard me."

"I won't let you be alone again," Chikane said after a pause, "I do know how it feels to be alone because even with all the people surrounding me I never felt as if I belonged with them. I know how unbearable it is to feel that way."

Himeko started to make her way towards Chikane but stopped, "I am sorry for what I did. Are you mad at me?"

There was no answer and for a second Himeko thought that she was being ignored. Behind her the water rippled and two wet hands covered her eyes from behind. She felt herself leaning back into a comforting familiar embrace, her muscles relaxing and her fear diminishing. The hands dropped from her eyes and made their way down the blonds body, coming to rest on her flat stomach. There was hot breathing in her ears and Himeko had trouble concentrating for a bit. She was brought back to the sitting position on Chikane's lap.

"I can't guarantee that I will never do something like that again," Himeko could tell that this was very important to Chikane, "She caused me pain, she attacked my heart which was hurting at the time. For that I can not forgive her. I already forgave you for what happened, Himeko, it is her that I can not forgive."

The woman's lap was comforting and it was easy for Himeko to relax, "I'm glad that you forgave me. There was a point last night where I thought that you might have abandoned me and that was one of the most scary times in my life."

Tightly, Chikane hugged the woman and rested her chin on the top of the blonds head, "Never, I will never abandon you! Remember how long we waited for our love to find each other? There is no way I would forget that feeling when you embraced me for the first time in the middle of the intersection or the way you made me feel when you ran off. At the time I could not understand why I felt like that but later I realized something when I saw you walking with your friend. If I truly wanted to hold onto the feeling of warmth I received from you I could never let go once I got a hold of you."

"You make it feel like people are trying to steal me away," Himeko said.

"They are," Chikane replied, "I know you probably did not notice but many people love you," There was a sigh from the woman as she snuggled into blond damp hair, "None of them as much as me though, I didn't even know it was possible to love someone as much as I love you."

"I'm glad," Himeko responded as she put her hands over Chikane's, holding them close to her body, "It means that I'm not alone. I want you to be happy because that is what makes me happy, Chikane-chan. If you hurt yourself it makes me sad, I know that's not what you intend to do but that is how you make me feel. As long as you are happy I am happy."

Chikane closed her eyes, "I'm happy as long as your with me. No matter what happens you must always be with me. Now that we have established this we should get out and eat some breakfast."

Smiling, Himeko turned to the side, "I agree."

Chikane and Himeko kissed before they exited the bath together, drying and putting on their bath robes. They walked to their room and dressed in casual clothes before walking down into the dinning room once again, hand in hand.

--(That's a wrap)--

I know, you may be thinking "why the hell would Chikane and Himeko help the Orochi?". Simply, I was just thinking that everyone would be tired of being controlled by some destiny rather than making their own choices. I'm kind of tired right now so this last little part was a little hard to finish but I felt a need to get it done so that people would know what happened next. C&C are appreciated, especially because it helps me see things in a story that I might not have seen before. Thank you for reading.


	15. School Day Again

A Meeting and A Dream.

A K.N.M. Fan fiction.

I do not own Kannazuki no Miko, this story belongs to me however. Please respect the ideas of myself, and others. Thank you.

NOTE: I will probably not be able to update as often (read end note).

Chapter 15: School Day Again

Himeko entered the house and let out a huge sigh as she dropped her bags on the floor in the living room and collapsed on the couch. It was the first day she had been back to school and she had been loaded with a huge pile of make up work for her classes. Her bag was bulging with homework and her mind was pulsing with information that she had to learn to catch up in class. It had only been a week and she was already very stressed from how much work had piled up and how behind she was. To make it worse she was alone since Chikane had, despite her best efforts to avoid it, gone back to work as was required of her. While she was mainly in the music business she also a liaison, a go between, for her parents company. Chikane was learned enough to communicate with people in many different companies and convince them to set up a branch of business or have their business put in the hands of her parents company. It was all behind the scenes and normally there were few changes to the business other than portions of the profit going to Himemiya Industries. The blond sighed and lay down on the couch in exasperation, Chikane was smart, beautiful, talented, and rich. It was enough to make even the most well off person envious.

"How did I get lucky enough to love such a person," Himeko was looking down at the floor, one hand outstretched with a finger tracing invisible lines on the carpet, "It's like a dream I don't deserve."

To her surprise a cup was set down gently on the coffee table and she looked up to see Otoha standing there, "You looked stress, Miss Kurusugawa, forgive me if I assumed too much."

"No," Himeko said as she sat up once again, "Thank you very much. I was just thinking about some things."

Otoha nodded, "I see, well if you need anything then don't hesitate to ask."

Himeko watched the woman walk towards the door, "Wait, actually I do need something."

Turning back to the woman, Otoha asked, "How may I serve you?"

"I was just wondering," There was a pause, the blond being unsure of how she should continue, "I would like to know some things about Chikane. She isn't here and there are things that I just don't get."

Otoha was a little puzzled, "Why would you want to talk to me?"

There was a slight blush and Himeko said quietly, "I was just thinking that you probably know her better than me and you seem to be friends. The way she looks when she sees you... Sometimes it makes me a little jealous. I mean... There is this connection that the two of you have and its obvious that she treats you different from all of the other maids."

"I don't know about having a connection," Otoha said, still standing near the door, "But I have known her since I was young. We are both about the same age and while some of the other maids have been her longer they were not people that she really talked to... Though the miss did not really talk as it was. The first time I met her she was reading alone."

Himeko was surprised, "I didn't know she liked to read."

"She was in a tree," Otoha said with a strait face.

It occurred to Himeko that normal people did not climb a tree just to read, "I see... That is definitely interesting. Was she always that way, reading alone or doing things by herself?"

The maid paused for a second before saying, "I'm not sure, but she definitely seemed to prefer it to the company of others. I never saw it but I'm sure that there were times when she would cry in her room because she felt lonely. The few times I asked her she only told me 'waiting is difficult' and walked away. On her sixteenth birthday it was so bad that she had to be confined to her room because her parents were afraid that she would hurt herself."

This was interesting, the blond had experienced nightmares on her sixteenth birthday herself, but she could never imagine that were so frightening she had been afraid to sleep, "When was this, her birthday I mean?"

"Some time in October I think," The maid answered, "May I asked why you ask, Miss Kurusugawa?"

"That's strange, my birthday is also in October," Himeko said more to herself than anyone around.

Otoha smiled, "Really? If you would like I could throw a party, it would be the least I could do. I just need to know the day."

The blond told her, "I know there is something about this date that is special... I think... That's right, me and Chikane were born on the same day! We have the same birthday!"

"Oh? That's great, I'll have to tell Miss Himemiya about it," Otoha looked genuinely happy, "We can throw a double party with both of your friends."

This troubled Himeko some, "You shouldn't bother, I really don't have any."

The maid frowned, "I see, well if you change your mind just tell me."

"Thank you Otoha," Himeko said, "I appreciate you talking to me."

"It's no problem, if you will excuse me," The maid said.

Himeko nodded, "Yes, oh, and one more thing, please call me Himeko."

"Yes Miss Himeko," The maid left and Himeko was alone in the room with a pile of homework and some rapidly cooling tea.

Opening her bag and looking at the contents, the blond decided that there was no time like the present to start her work. It would be a lot to do in a short time and she had no way of knowing when something would happen given her given her current situation. It was strange to her that all of this was happening again as she had thought that it had ended before when Chikane was imprisoned. That was just it though, since the priestess was not there to maintain the shrine it most likely caused the seal to be broken once again and since most of the original people still existed it was probable that everything had essentially defaulted back to how it was before. With that, it could be said that the simple fact that Chikane was here had caused everything to happen the way it was before. This was why the Orochi had wanted to be free, it was the only possible reason, they had been living peacefully until the seal had been broken.

There was absolutely no way that Himeko would allow Chikane to learn of this, if she did it would devastate the woman. She would blame herself for what had happened and the blond would never allow that to happen, not ever. Of course if she had realized this then Chikane would eventually realize this also as she was much sharper than Himeko. There had to be some way to distract her from the line of thinking. It was too much to think about right now, the blond put the thought away from for later and focused on the school work in front of her. It would be a miracle to pass the classes as it was, it would be not good for her to get distracted by things that did not relate to school work. At least that was how it was right now.

--(Work, work, work)--

Chikane arrived home around four in the afternoon and stormed up the stairs with a flustered look on her face. Himeko was still in the living room trying to do her make up work and getting frustrated with each new answer she tried. There were some that were simple and others that made her mind go blank and her eyes glaze over from the strain of thinking. There was rustling around upstairs as Chikane slammed drawers closed and opened them faster than they really needed to be opened. There was the sound of something heavy falling on the floor and an outraged yell before the dark blue haired girl stormed downstairs and flung the door to the living room open. Himeko looked up and blinked as Chikane scanned the room.

"Can I help you?"

Looking at the blond, Chikane shook her head, "Probably not. I just had a rough day at work."

The blond looked back to her work and idly she commented, "Yes, well Otoha's tea is great for curing stress."

Curiously Chikane looked at the books and papers laying open all over the table, "What's going on here?"

Himeko looked up with a resigned face, "I have to do all of this make-up work before the week ends in order to pass my classes."

"I see," Chikane stuck her head out of the room and said something to one of the maids, "I could help you with some of it if you want. I'm particularly good with math if yo need help."

Looking up from her pages, the blond sighed, "I guess it can't really be helped, I would definitely like some help."

"Alright," Chikane said as she sat down next to Himeko and looked over some of the work she was doing, "This should be a lot easier with both of us looking over it."

In the end it was exactly as the woman had said, the work was much easier with Chikane sitting down and helping her. After the first few minutes a maid came in and set down a cup of tea for the blue haired woman and the two of them worked through some problems. It was so much easier for the two of them to do it that soon they lost track of time and before they knew it was dinner time. With both of them working on the homework it was now about a quarter of the way done and both of the girls determined that it would be a good time to take a break, probably for the rest of the day.

The dinner was a usual fair that left Himeko speechless and almost drooling as the food looked impossibly good. Both women ate with a quick pace, stopping only to talk about some of the things that they had gone through in the day. For Himeko it was a pretty normal boring day with class running long and many of the teachers getting on her for missing a whole week of school. It was not as if she could help it, but it was also a fact that she could not let them know exactly what she had been doing that week. There was also a part of her that knew that she would not be believed even if she had told the truth so she just let the harping teachers talk. It was not as if she had wanted to miss school in the first place but a lot had happened that, for her, was really unavoidable. All of the Orochi business had really put a damper on her since she had went to the shrine that one day.

Chikane did not seem to be effected as much by the visit tot he shrine, her problems seemed to stem from the fact that she found it difficult to deal with some people. When she had went to discuss business during a meeting many of the people had been so against a buying by her parents company that she had wondered what she was doing there in the first place. It seemed to Chikane that the only reason she was there was so the people could badmouth her and her parents. That alone made it really difficult to deal with them. Though she had done well to convince them differently while hiding her real feelings towards them, she had left the meeting feeling disturbed and angry. Idly Himeko wondered why it was she had been storming through the house while seeming to be in search for something.

"I guess I was just angry and looking for something to make me feel better," Chikane said as she responded to Himeko's pondering.

There was a slight smile from Himeko then as she finished her food, "That's great, I guess you found it."

It was a not so subtle hint that the woman could not help but grin at, "Yes, you could say that."

"It was lucky for me if only because I was struggling quite a bit with the assignment," Himeko said, "I was about ready to tear my hair out trying to finish."

"I couldn't have that, there is no way to imagine you without those beautiful blond locks of hair," Chikane had finished her meal and the maids took their plates away, "I'm glad your back in school, I was worried that this was going to interfere with your studies."

"It's okay," Himeko said as she stood and walked around the table to where Chikane was sitting, "We both seem busy so it does not matter as much. If I wasn't busy I would be lonely without you here."

Chuckling a Himeko leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, Chikane replied, "Hey, give me some credit, I miss you a lot also."

"I bet you do, my princess."

The two began to kiss and paw at one another before they heard a cough, "Could I suggest that the two of you retire to a room."

Chikane smiled devilishly and looked over at Otoha, "I don't know, it seems that you enjoy the view."

The maid had great trouble suppressing her annoyance as she closed her eyes and balled her fist, much to Chikane's amusement, "If the lady would not be too troubled I would appreciate the both of you retiring so that I may clean the dinning room."

"I think we should do as she says, Chikane-chan," Himeko remarked as the annoyed look did not escape her.

Chikane stood with good humor, "Thank you, Otoha, I will honor your request."

Sighing in acceptance, Otoha nodded, "I thank the lady."

--(Hot in the City)--

With a start, Chikane woke and went immediately into the sitting position with her chest heaving as her breath labored. Sweat ran down her face and she could taste the slight tinge of salt from it on her lips as she stared into the dark room. The dream had took her off guard and thrown her emotions into a roller coaster of anger and pain that she found it hard to deal with appropriately. It had been a while, ever since she had met Himeko it had been pleasant for the most part but now she was beginning to think that it was about to end. There was no call for a dream like that, darkness filled her mind when she tried to call the details. What she knew for a fact was that she had hurt Himeko badly, betrayed her, bloodied her... She had tried to ruin the woman. It was a memory of the past, that much was obvious, but she had thought she had recalled all of the past memories. This one had broken through so suddenly that Chikane was caught unprepared.

The woman slid out of bed softly and walked across the room to put on a bathrobe and quietly exited the room. Though she could not remember the dreams specifics, Chikane knew one thing. That dream made her sick enough that she felt close to throwing up. Entering the bathroom she filled a clear cool glass with water and quickly gulped it down, feeling the liquid cleans her throat and ease her. She ended with a sigh before she felt something rise in her, burning her esophagus as it made its way up to her mouth. That dream had effected her a bit more than she thought and her stomach had delayed its reaction just enough for her to arrive at the sink before she lost the contents of her stomach. The action was long and violent and Chikane had to grip the edge of the sink to support herself, knocking the glass she had been drinking out of to the floor and shattering it into pieces upon the tile floor. Then it was done and she rinsed the sink clean and tried to walk but she had been made weak and she dropped to the floor, on her hands and knees.

Breathing hard and her hair splayed out in a mess across her back and falling over her face, Chikane was acutely aware of the fact that her hand had been cut open on a piece of glass. Though she had fought long, nausea finally overtook her and she fell to the floor unconscious as the door was thrown open and someone screamed her name. Himeko had seen her get out of bed and waited for her to come back, when she had not the woman became worried and went looking for her. In the end she had found her in the bathroom just in time to see her pass out. What made her the most worried was the fact that blood was seeping from her hand in a puddle that was running across the floor. So much blood that that it almost made the blond woozy before she fought it and ripped a piece of her pajamas off and quickly wrapped it around Chikane's hand and raised the hand into the air. After that she was lost for ideas so she screamed as loud as she could for someone to help. It was probably the loudest that she had ever screamed in her life and her throat became sore, but she still yelled until everyone in the mansion came bursting into the room.

--(Wrap!)--

This is going to hurt to do but I'm afraid the updates will come with less frequency since I have started school and have to rearrange my priorities. In this particular case, this story is now secondary to school work. This being the case I will have to slow down the pace at which I release the chapters. Not that I have been too quick with them lately but it is for this reason that I feel the need to inform you of the reason for any delay that may happen. This is especially regrettable because of the way this chapter has ended, believe me, I did not intend for this to happen. On one hand it is hard for me, on the other hand I can not justify changing my story for the sake of a schedule that I never really had in the first place. I don't want to sound callous but this is the way I have to be in order to accommodate school. Again, I am not stopping the story, just slowing it down. Thank you for reading and continuing to support the story. Any reviews are appreciated.


	16. Suffering and Silence

A Meeting and A Dream.

A K.N.M. Fan fiction.

I do not own Kannazuki no Miko, this story belongs to me however. Please respect the ideas of myself,

and others. Thank you.

NOTE: I temporarily lied.

Chapter 16: Suffering and Silence.

Chikane woke in a hospital, she knew it was a hospital from the antiseptic smell of the room and the plain white walls. It took a second for her to think of a reason why she would be there before she remembered what had taken place the night before. Slowly she looked over at her hand and saw the white bandages that wrapped it, a scene that caused her to let out a low laugh. Himeko's cast had just been removed the day before she had gone back to school and now she was here with her hand bandaged. That memory she had last night effected her so much that she had been physically sick and eventually knocked over a glass and cut her hand. She wondered who it was that had found her. Anyone but Himeko, that would be too much for the woman. Chikane could not explain to the blond how she had got in the situation and she knew that Himeko would ask her. Telling her that a memory of the past had made her feel that way was just to much to accept.

As it was she was now alone in a hospital room with an aching hand and her head in pain from being dehydrating and throwing up so violently. At a time like this she would have loved some form of company, even just a nurse coming in and talking to her would suffice. In the end she was alone but then she had probably deserved it in some form or another. Chikane figured that she was paying for many things she had done in the past to people. It was so crazy, she was not an evil person and yet she had done so many bad things to people, even the ones that she cared for. Could she ever live through the pain and receive forgiveness? Did she deserve to be forgiven?

The door opened and a nurse walked in, placing some pills next to her bed with a paper cup filled with water. It was all too obvious that these were to take away the pain that would probably accompany the wound on her hand in a few minutes. How had this nurse realized that she was awake in the first place? All kinds of scenarios ran through Chikane's mind and none of them were particularly pleasant to think about. In silence she took the pills and the water, quickly swallowing them together. The nurse smiled pleasantly and exited the room to leave Chikane alone with her thoughts once again. Hours passed and eventually Chikane realized that there would be no sleep for her.

Getting out of her hospital bed the woman walked out of the room and down the hallway towards the stairs to the roof. She climbed the stairs and opened the door, exiting onto the roof of the building to find it free of people. There was a bench there to sit on and the woman gratefully took a seat to rest her feet. Looking around she found that her earlier assessment about he rooftop being free of people had not been totally correct. There was one person, a little girl, standing by herself and looking out across the buildings. For a while, Chikane watched the girl quietly, not making a sound but wondering who she was and why she was here.

The girl seemed to sigh eventually and turn away, finally noticing Chikane and walking towards her, stopping to sit down next to her on the bench, "You don't mind, do you?"

Chikane said nothing but shook her head.

"You seem a little depressed," The girl said, "My name is Nekoko, if you want you can talk to me about whatever is bothering you."

Chikane shook her head, "I don't think you would understand. I know I don't, not really."

The girl sighed, "You're just saying that because I'm young. I hate being treated like a child!"

"It's nothing personal," the blue haired girl leaned back and looked at the sky, "It's just that I remembered some really horrible things I did to someone I love. For some reason she forgave me but I can't forgive myself."

Nekoko looked over at her, silent for a minute before saying, "That makes sense, there's no reason to forget something that you regret."

Smiling bitterly, Chikane replied, "That's a strange way of trying to cheer you up."

The girl puffed up her cheeks a bit, "I'm not trying to cheer you up. If something happened that you regret then you should remember it so it never happens again."

"But what if that memory hurts you so bad you worry the one you care for?"

"That isn't something that I should answer," Nekoko said with a sighed, "The one you should talk to is the one that you hurt... Or the one that is worried about you."

Chikane only sighed, "Unfortunately I don't think she would want to be near me if she heard what the memory was about. I think I should keep this from her."

The girl shook her head, "I think you should tell her."

"It would hurt her."

"No," Nekoko stood and smoothed her skirt, "I think she would be relieved to find out what you thought was wrong."

"You may be right about that," Chikane sat forward, "You're kind of smart for a kid."

"And you can be kind of stupid for an adult," Nekoko responded with a prideful look on her face.

Chikane blinked in surprise before planting a hand on the girls head in a good natured pat, "Yeah, I suppose your right. I get so scared of hurting people close to me that I end up hurting them worse because of it. It's hard to say everything that's bothering me because I have always had to keep my feelings bottled up."

"It may be hard but I think it will be better for you in the long run," Nekoko smiled, "I have to get back to my room now, by miss."

Chikane bid her off and once again she was left alone in the evening air, the breeze slightly chilling and the air smelling of a mix of dust and pollen. The sky was a hazy blue with white swirling clouds that traced a wispy lazy pattern in the sky. The sun seemed so far away but Chikane wanted to stay under it and enjoy its warmth for as long as she could. It would soon disappear behind the horizon and the moon would rise to beckon white pinpoints of stars in a black sky. The woman stood eventually and made her way back to her room where she found nobody waiting for her. Depressed and lonely she lay down on the bed and fell asleep. It was late in the evening and she had not yet fully recovered from the stress of the previous days stresses on her body. This time she slept peacefully, a blond hair woman comforting her in her dreams. Sometimes it was good to be the person being comforted rather than the person doing the comforting.

The next morning she opened her eyes to find that she was not alone this time, in fact there were many people there to meet her. One person was noticeably absent however, the only person she really cared about, and it took great effort to hid the pain. The doctor and her parents were by her bedside, recalling the events before saying that they had to leave for a business trip. They had only came to the hospital to make sure that Chikane would be okay before they left. The doctor told her, after they left, that he was worried about the cut and he would keep her there for only one more day before being released. It seemed that it had gone deep and he wanted to make sure that it would not cause her any problem with her profession in the future. Chikane just nodded absently and the doctor gave her a concerned looked before he exited the room and left her alone. The woman switched on the television and made use of her time by catching up with the news for a couple hours.

She had no idea how much time passed but she eventually heard a nurse enter with a tray and she absently took her pill. It occurred to her that they were pretty strong and as soon as they took effect she felt all of the stress melt from her body. It was as if she was made of jelly and her body would not even obey a command to lift her arm and turn of the television with the remote control. Long ago the nurse had left her alone and she was now helpless to do anything but watch the same channel.

The door opened and closed, Chikane did not even look, there was no way it could be who she wanted it to be. By this time she was almost positive that Himeko was disgusted with her for. Maybe she had thought that Chikane had tried to commit suicide, there was no proof that anything else had happened after all. Her eyes were fixed on the television screen but she had stopped paying attention to what was happening a long time ago, she heard something heavy falling to the floor and a soft hand took the remote control and switched off the television. Finally Chikane looked away from the screen and found her own sapphire eyes looking strait into amethyst eyes. The blue haired womans heart stopped for a whole second before starting to beat much faster than it had been before.

"Himeko," She barely managed to breath.

The blond looked down at her hand for a second before leaning in and kissing her lightly on the cheek, it was a sad kiss, full of regret, "I'm sorry, Chikane-chan."

The whisper almost brought tears to Chikane's face and she barely managed to shake her head, "You have nothing to apologize for. I caused you so much trouble."

Sitting in a chair next to the bed, Himeko grabbed her non-bandaged hand and looked in her eyes, "I was so scared when I found you like that. There was so much blood."

Chikane looked away, refusing to meet Himeko's eyes, "Himeko... I need to talk to you about something. I... The truth is..."

Chikane trailed off and looked over to see Himeko looking at her expectantly, "What is it, Chikane-chan."

Those eyes were so innocent and pure and... This was so hard to do, Chikane took a huge shuddering breath, "The truth is, that night I had a nightmare," The woman shook her head, "No, it was a memory of the past. I thought that I had remembered everything but that night I saw something that made me sick."

"You don't need to tell me," Himeko could see how painful this was, but Chikane grabbed her hand as firmly as the drugs flowing through her body would allow.

"I do. That night the memory that came back to me was one where I hurt you more than I would have ever thought possible," Chikane felt tears starting to form and tried to fight them, "You came into the room so happy to see me. I was dressed in the priestess robes while you were in your in you school uniform. I had been away from you for a while because I wanted you to forget about me but you never did so I... That night I tried to make you hate me. I did something terrible to you that I can never forgive myself for."

Himeko saw the tears fall and made a motion to hug her but Chikane softly pushed her back, "What are you saying? I know you joined the Orochi in the past, you don't need to tell me again."

"That's not it," Chikane shook her head and fought hard to control her emotions, "I did something even worse than that. I took away your innocence, the very thing I loved so much about you. Over and over again I... Oh god! You forgave me in the end but I can not forgive myself. I just can't. I don't deserve to be loved by you."

"I'm not sure I get what you're saying, Chikane-chan," Himeko said with desperation in her voice, "I only recall something like that vaguely. What caused you so much pain?"

She could not do it, that much was apparent now, "Please just go, forget about me and find someone else. There's too much pain when you're close. Please go."

Himeko looked horrified, "But... I came here to be with you. Why?"

"Get out! I'm a terrible person, get away from me!" Chikane pushed the girl farther away with both of her hands and there was a sudden blot of blood that soaked through the bandages.

She did not feel the pain but she knew the stitches had been ripped open, if only they had pills that would take away the emotional pain. Himeko looked near tears and was torn between throwing herself at the woman and running out of the room. Finally she looked down and walked out of the room to leave Chikane alone. Once on the other side of the door she fell to her knees and pressed her hands to her face and sobbed so hard her body started to shake. The pain of being told to go away was far less than the pain of being helpless to do anything for the one she loved. Eventually a nurse walked by and helped her walk to the waiting room where she sat and continued to cry, alone in a crowed of waiting people who were sick or hurt in some way.

The blond missed Miyako walking by and glancing at her before frowning marching down the hall Himeko had just come from.

It took just a few minutes of angry power walking before she reached Chikane's room, stopping only to talk to a doctor, and entered without asking permission. She had been called in after there was a report of a woman who appeared to attempt suicide. As a sister of the church it was her job to counsel people in this situation and she often worked at this hospital talking to people who were depressed with their illness. This was personal though, this was something that she knew was set into motion by herself long ago and the consequences were much deeper than she expected. At the time she had just wanted to end the existence of the earth, moved as she had been by the seal of the Orochi. Now she was making penance for a long line of sin she had committed. This was one time that she knew the sin had been done by her and passed down to a woman that she was desperately trying to make amends with.

Locking the door and adjusting her purple hair, Miyako took a deep breath and walked over to the bed where Chikane was weeping silently, "What seems to be the source of your pain?"

Looking up at the dark skinned woman next to her bed, Chikane barely managed to speak, "I have sinned terribly in the past."

Miyako sat down silently, adjusting her dress, she had not come her as a nun originally but to visit a friend, "I am here to listen as a vessel of God."

"I'm not a Christian," Chikane said vehemently towards the woman, she did not want to talk to anyone. Especially not this woman.

"I know the pain of past sins, for I have also committed many," The woman with purple hair sat strait, "It is never too late to repent for your sins. God must know what your sins are first, and he listens to all who chose to repent regardless of religion."

Chikane could sense the sincerity through the pain of her grief and sobbed out, "I don't wish to talk about it."

Gently, hesitantly, Miyako put a calm hand on Chikane's arm, "I do not believe you tried to commit suicide. You are stronger than that, but you must have experienced something terrible to cause this much pain. To cripple you this much."

"It's only a cut on my hand."

"I am not speaking of a physical wound," Miyako responded as a doctor came in behind her.

Without a word she moved aside and waited as the doctor removed the bandage on Chikane's hand and inspect the newly-opened wound. Silently he cut out the stitches, Chikane looking away as he did, and replaced them with fresh ones before wrapping the hand again. Before leaving he took her unharmed hand and slapped her wrist firmly. It was a silent admonishment for opening the wound before he left the the two women were alone once again.

"Continuing from where we left off," The purple haired woman pointed at the left side of Chikane's chest without touching her, "I am speaking of wounds that are here. Sometimes a wound is deep enough that a person is crippled emotionally. Moving through life by themselves, without wanting companionship for fear of being hurt or hurting others. It is far more difficult to heal a wound such as this. Especially if only the person affected by it knows about it."

Chikane looked at her newly mended hand before nodding slightly, "I will trust you this time then. Only this time and only as a vessel of God to speak to."

Miyako nodded, "That is perfectly fine. Thank you for allowing me to do this."

"Recently I have come to know many memories that I have not know to be there before. I dealt with them initially, talking with a person I care for very deeply about them. This person was also affected these memories and for a time everything seemed to be going fine," Chikane took a deep shaky breath, "Until a few days ago that is. I had a dream, it was a memory that horrified me, and I tried to walk around and clear my head. I... I ended up getting sick from the memory of what I had done and that is how I ended up getting hurt. I did not cause this myself, it was an accident."

Chikane looked over to Miyako who was listening calmly, quietly, serenely. She continued, "The memory I had... I can't even believe I would do such a thing, I tried to make the person I loved hate me. I tried to make them despise me. I took away the very innocence that I loved so much," Chikane felt the bile rising in her throat as she was again forced to remember the night, "I raped her, sister. I can't even believe I would do such a thing. I don't know who I am anymore, I'm a horrible person. I don't deserve forgiveness."

Miyako watched quietly as Chikane broke down once again and at length she responded, "Rest easy, for God forgives you for you sin, and so does your loved one. Though you may not forgive yourself yet, your salvation is in the hands of those who care for you. Only the ones who do not repent, the ones who ignore doubt and guilt for their own selfishness are truly damned to hell. You are not. You acknowledge your sin and question your own mortality. You are a good person, though you may not see it yourself. Be grateful, child, for God forgives you."

Chikane looked up, "If that is true then tell me Himeko is still here. Tell me she has not left me, as I know she has."

With a knowing smile, Miyako stood, "If I tell you she has not abandoned you, will you accept my word?"

"No," Chikane admitted.

"Then see for yourself," Miyako walked to the door and opened it, having heard Himeko trying and failing to eavesdrop without being noticed.

The blond stumbled inside, caught lightly by Miyako before she straitened up with tears in her eyes, "Chikane-chan, I could not leave you. No matter how much you said it I couldn't do it, I'm sorry. But I heard. I heard what happened! And I remembered, and now I know that you're an idiot. How can someone so smart be so stupid and hard headed. Of course it hurt, it was unforgivable, but I had already decided that I loved you before that time. I was confused and scared but still I could not help but think I had done something wrong."

Chikane looked away from her, Miyako silently slipped out and closed the door, "You did nothing wrong, how could I do that to you?"

"Because you loved me," Himeko said simply, "It was wrong, nothing can forgive it, but you thought of only me. It was selfish wanting me to hate you but you were protecting me in the only way you had left. I was so blind. And I was stupid. We were both stupid."

"Yes we were," Chikane said quietly, much more calm than she had been.

"We still have a lot to go through," Himeko said, "But we have learned from what came before. I know you won't be an idiot like you were before. I know I won't either."

Chikane managed a slight smile, "You seem to give me more support than I give you, for being so much stronger than you as you claim."

"I have to do what I can to heal the wounds you cause yourself," Himeko said as she walked forward, "That is the only thing I have ever been able to do for you. You protect me from pain by putting yourself in the way, I'm so tired of seeing you hurt though. It hurts so much to see you in pain, please promise me that you'll never hurt yourself for me. I'm not blind, I know when you're hurt, and I also know when the pain is because of me."

"It was unintentional," Chikane said, "Hurting you was the opposite of what I wanted," Chikane switched the subject suddenly, "By the way, why did you come back?"

"I told you, I could never leave you like that," Himeko let all of her love show in one gaze and Chikane was stunned to silence, "I heard you talking while I was waiting outside and decided to listen to see who you were talking to."

Himeko then wrapped her arms around Chikane, letting her warmth and love envelope the dark haired girl, "Himeko, I really don't deserve you."

"And I don't deserve you," The blond responded softly, "So were even, now shut up about it and hug me back."

Chikane only nodded and and wrapped her arms around woman and the two of them stayed like that for a while, silent and comfortable in each others arms. Finally, Himeko released her arms and Chikane reluctantly followed. When their eyes met, perfect sapphire blue to brilliant amethyst, the only look between them was love. Himeko smiled and kissed Chikane deeply, finding her gesture returned in kind.

"I think that my wound is starting to heal," Chikane said in a whisper to Himeko.

"I'm glad your hand is getting better," Himeko commented.

Chikane smiled secretively, "Yes, my hand. Thank you Himeko. And thank you Miyako. You more than made up for the pain you caused me in the past."

"Did she help to heal your hand?"

Chikane hushed her, "It's not important. Just stay with me for a while longer."

Himeko smiled and snuggled into her, "I was planning to stay with you since the beginning."

--(Wow...)--

Well, I know I said that updates would be delayed but I had to finish this chapter for the people who wanted to know what would happen next. I distinctly dislike endings that leave someone hurt without explaining what happens next. Why did I do it then? Because I felt in necessary, because not everything hand been taken care of between Chikane and Himeko, because there has to be some resolution for all of the characters. Even Miyako. And Nekoko. I did like how this ended nicely and took care of some points that never felt resolved at the end of the anime. The episodes ofter number 8 left me with the feeling of "FTW! Himeko forgave her already?" so I had to get some real resolution. I like how it turned out. There will definitely be a delay for next chapter though, as I have an essay to work on. Thanks for reading. Comments and criticism welcome as always. I should add that they must be CONSTRUCTIVE as in no flames.


	17. A Harsh Truth

A Meeting and A Dream.

A K.N.M. Fan fiction.

I do not own Kannazuki no Miko, this story belongs to me however. Please respect the ideas of myself,

and others. Thank you.

NOTE:

Chapter 17: A Harsh Truth

Though there was still school, whenever she was released she always went home immediately after classes. Himeko had not wanted to be away from Chikane after the night she had been released from the hospital. That day was bitter-sweet for the both of them. There had been a lot to talk about and Chikane was taking the news of her injuries long term effect better than expected. This did not mean that she was fine with it though. The doctor had told her that she would play again. It was just that it would take about a year. The look of detestation on Chikane's face had upset Himeko enough that she had almost demanded that there be another test. Her protest was stopped before it was given voice when the dark haired girl had nodded and said that it was fine as long as there was still hope.

That did not keep Himeko from worrying about her though. If there was one thing she had learned it was that Chikane was prone to sudden bouts of depression if she thought something was her fault. That meant that her mind would find some way to blame herself for this at the most convenient moment for it and the least convenient for Himeko. Recently the blond had to walk on eggshells quite a bit around her friend and love. It had been calm but there was no letting your guard down when someone you cared for could submerge into a pool of darkness at the earliest available time.

When she got home Chikane was laying on the couch and watching television in a white robe and eating what appeared to be sugar cookies. Truthfully, Himeko had not expected to find her crying but she also did not expect her to be gorging herself on sugary goodness. She smiled and waved with her bandaged hand, a cooking hanging from her mouth as she propped her head up on one unhurt hand. For a second Himeko was in absolute shock before she closed her eyes and giggled at the scene in front of her. It was rare for Chikane to enjoy herself but this was going overboard, it was like a wave of stress had washed over her and she was left with relief and calm that flowed throughout her entire body, a serene flat lake.

Himeko sat down across from her and sighed, "Your the only one who gets a week off you know. Thanks for not flaunting it."

Chikane bit into the cookie and chewed before she replied, "Sarcasm doesn't become you Himeko, you dug your own hole by taking a week off from school. You'll get no sympathy from me."

"That's easy to say for a genius," Himeko mock pouted put her chin in her hands, elbows resting on her knees, "You have your life laid out for you. You wouldn't even have to try if you didn't want to."

The other woman raised an eyebrow, "Oh? I sense a little jealousy in someones voice. We are who we are, Himeko. You know I hate the life I've been given, but I am thankful that I have you and that it allows me to provide for you."

"I know," Himeko responded, "I guess that I'm just frustrated. I'm caught up in school but now I'm back to my usual problems of not being able to pay attention. I wish I was calm and cool like you so I could focus on my real problems and not get distracted."

Chikane smiled warmly at her companion and sat up, "You know what? Everyone gets distracted by things they don't like. Even me. I don't enjoy being cold to people but I know if I let them see me weak I would be torn apart in an instant. You have the freedom to let people see how you really feel, you could never do my work and that is why I love you. My sweet, innocent, naïve, and genuine Himeko."

The blond laughed at that, "If only everyone knew how weak you really were."

"Hey, I resent that!" Chikane yelled with mock indignation, "It's not like I'm use to dealing with memories like that."

"Yes," Himeko responded, "I know, you are stronger than me but everyone has a breaking point."

The blue haired girl sighed and patted the cushion next to her, "Come on, I sat up so you could come over here. Don't be mean to the hurt person."

"I doubt it hurts that much with all of the painkillers they gave you," Himeko remarked but obeyed and sat next to her love.

Chikane smiled and wrapped her arm around the woman drawing her close and giving her a gentle nibble on the ear. Her hot breath made all of the stress in Himeko's body melt away and she gratefully melted into the taller woman's arms. Thin, gentle, fingers ran through her long blond hair as the two of them shared a couch and enjoyed one another's company.

After a while Himeko broke the silence reluctantly, "Hey, Chikane-chan, do you think that there is a possibility that you have the mark of the Orochi?"

"What brought this on suddenly?"

The blond sighed, "I was just wondering since Miyako was saying everyone else who was once and Orochi changed back. That could mean you did also."

"I guess it's a possibility," Chikane said as she thought about it, "but I don't feel any different than normal. I don't want to hurt anyone or cause trouble."

Himeko placed her hand on Chikane's, which was idly playing with the a strand of blond hair, "That's not what I'm worried about. I was just wondering if you would also be effected by the curse of the Orochi. Would you also lose control and become covered in purple scales?"

"I don't know," The woman leaned back, "I wish I could tell you it will be alright but I'm a little scared to be honest. I know you would feel bad if anything happened to be the same way I would feel bad if something happened to you."

"I wish you hadn't said you were scared," Himeko looked away from her, "I know I told you that I want to know if something is wrong but I also want you to be strong... I guess I'm just being selfish."

Chikane stopped playing with her hair and placed a hand on the womans head, "Yes, you are, everyone is selfish because they are human. You want to obtain what you desire the same way I do. The same way everyone does. It's alright to a little selfish."

Himeko looked up at her from where she was now laying on Chikane's lap, having changed positions, "I don't really have any desires though."

"Oh? That's where you're wrong," Chikane said, "Your desire is so simple you don't realize it. You want us to be together, never changing from how we are now. The problem is, my dear, people change before they even realize it. We love each other this much now but that could change in just a year, you could fall in love with someone else or I could lose interest in you. This is just an example mind you, but you should be aware that it happens. Everyone changes and everyone loses something important to them at some point."

Himeko looked terrified by the thought of what the woman had said, "But I don't want to lose you. I know I will never fall in love with anyone else! You're not planning on leaving again, are you?"

Chikane smiled reassuringly at the blonds almost frantic plea, "Look, I don't know where you get this fear that I'm going to leave but I'm not. I'm not going to leave you for anything."

"I get it from the fact that you did," Himeko said, "that night I came home and you were gone I thought that you hated me. It was so lonely alone, trying to go on, never knowing what happened to you."

"Ah, but this is this and that is that," Chikane traced a circle lazily on her companions body with one finger, "Let's move on, this life is more important than what has already been."

There was a knock on the door and after a while a maid entered and reported that there was a Souma Oogami and a Saotome Makoto at the door for them. Chikane told the maid to let the two of them in and lead them to the living room. It was unexpected but there was really no reason for them to be kept away. There were also some things that needed to be cleared up between them as Chikane doubted the other Orochi had discussed the plan with Souma. She was also going to make sure that Himeko cleared up her trouble with Makoto once and for all, and it was a good time to do so. It did not take long for the two to enter the room where Himeko and Chikane where waiting.

Himeko was still laying in Chikane's lap, knowing she would be embarrassed but not wanting to actually move from the comfortable softness. Souma and Makoto blinked in surprise at seeing the scene before they wrote it off as actually not all that shocking. Sure Himeko was shy but it was also true that the both of them were very much in love with each other.

It occurred to Himeko with a start that she was being rude to the guests, especially Makoto, and she sat up suddenly, "Sorry."

"What is it you came by to pay me a visit about?" Chikane had reluctantly let Himeko go, "For that matter, how did you find out where I live?"

Souma scratched the back of his head a little embarrassed, "Well my father, that is Kazuki, has some amazing information networks. I asked him if he knew and he told me. I met Makoto later and we just kind of got together."

"Just kind of got together?" Chikane raised an eyebrow, "You make it sound like a date."

Souma blushed and Makoto looked away slightly, "No, we just needed to talk to you about some things. Don't we Makoto?"

The brown haired girl turned to the both of them and nodded, "Actually I just need to talk to Himeko. I guess Souma has something to talk to you about, Miss Himemiya."

"Please, call me Chikane," The night-blue haired woman said, "If this is a private affair for Himeko and you then I will take my leave. Please come this way, Souma."

With that the two walked out of the room and left Himeko and Makoto alone in the room with silence hanging heavy as a lead wall between them. Makoto sat across from Himeko.

"I'm sorry," Makoto said finally, "I know it's been a little awkward for the two of us so I have kind of been avoiding you. I just needed to get my feelings strait."

Himeko's reply surprised the woman, "I thought I had done something to make you hate me. It felt like you were asking me silently to give up my love for you. I could never do that so I felt that I had lost a friend and it was a little sad. No, it was very sad for me, I still wish I could talk to you like I did before."

Makoto shifted uncomfortably and sighed, "I never wanted that, it was just that I needed time. I still want to be your friend, Himeko."

"I'm glad," The blond looked genuinely relieved, "Thank you for forgiving me."

For a second Makoto looked a little defeated, "Will you stop trying to put the blame on yourself all of the time. This was not your fault, there is no sense with emotions. There is nobody to blame for what happened. Friends?"

A huge smile took over Himeko's face and she nodded emphatically, "Yes!"

Upstairs, Chikane was walking idly through the hallways with Souma silently looking around next to her. There was much in the house that was expensive and some that was even to the point that it was priceless to replace. It was all interesting but it was not like Souma was not well off himself so it did not impress him overly much. More importantly he knew of the curse better than anyone, it was something he needed to make sure to talk to the woman next to him about.

"So you're okay with this?"

Chikane stopped and turned to him with a questioning look on her face, "What do you mean by that?"

"I guess you don't realize this," Souma said, "but fighting the Orochi nature is not as easy as you think. Too much will make a person go mad. The scales alone will eventually cause your body to freeze but not before you lose control of yourself."

The woman continued walking, "So why are you telling me about this?"

"Because I know you were one of them," Souma followed slightly behind her, "I'm not sure how fast it will happen but eventually you will lose yourself. If you feel yourself starting to be taken over it may be best to leave Himeko. For her sake and yours."

"I will decide that when the time comes."

Souma sighed, "I know you don't trust me, but if that is the case you should also not trust yourself. I fought against my nature, you actually sought it out and made a deal. Which one of us is worse?"

Whirling suddenly, her long midnight blue hair swirling around her, she came face to face with Souma, "Are you saying that I'm worse than you? I did what I had to do to save her, I had no choice but to give away my own soul so that she could live on. I could never kill her and she would not have killed me under normal circumstances."

Souma did not react to the woman's anger but instead nodded, "I was not accusing you of anything Miss Himemiya. I know that you did what you thought was right. In the end you failed and were forced to face those same sins. None of this is important though, all I want is for you to trust me. To trust us. Both me and Makoto wish to help both of you."

"I don't need to trust you," Chikane was only slightly more calm than she had been before, "That you would even imply that I could hurt Himeko-"

"But you did," Souma interrupted, "I'm not here to fight with you, we both know the facts of what happened. In the end Himeko chose you and that's fine, I don't wish to interfere with your relationship. I just want to make sure you're careful, many things are happening behind the scenes that nobody can predict. All I want is for you to be careful."

Finally Chikane calmed down fully, "I see. You're right. We both know what already happened, if you truly want to help I will not stop you. I will be watching however."

"Trust is something that everyone has to earn," Souma replied, "I assure you that I wish no harm."

There was a scream from downstairs suddenly and both the man and the woman turned and ran towards the living room without thinking. As Souma tore the door open, Chikane right behind him, they saw Makoto laying on the floor with one arm cut slightly and bleeding. Across from her was a woman holding Himeko. One of her hands at her throat and her opposite arm holding the blond closely around the waist. The tip of her hands were adorned with what looked to be claws that were razor sharp and ready to tear open Himeko's throat at any second. Everyone was frozen like a statue as they waited for someone to make a move, nobody daring to even breath too hard.

She was tall with glass clear blue eyes that seemed to hold the sky within them, her hair was the color of a raging fire, a mix of red and blond. Her face was angular and thin with red lipstick applied around the lips. Her teeth, white as pearls, were bared and they looked normal except for four fangs that looked like K-9's from a wolf or dog. On her slim fingers were black fingernails that looked to be claws, or were claws, it was hard to tell by the way she was holding her captive.

The woman gave a short throaty chuckle as she spotted Chikane, "So moon priestess, you came for your lover. All of you have cause me trouble but you most of all, it was so easy when you willingly gave in to the evil Orochi blood but now your all going against it. This causes a bit of a problem for me as now I have to come up with a way to destroy the world myself. That eight-headed serpent was so much better at doing the dirty work."

"What the hell do you want with Himeko?" Chikane demanded as she made an attempt to step forward but stopped when the razor-sharp claws came closer to the blond's throat.

"What I want is for you to end this existence," The woman said, "If you do that I will let the woman free."

Chikane curse and looked around, "Even if I agree it doesn't matter if the world is destroyed. I swear if you even scratch her I will kill you ten times over."

"Silly woman," the flame-haired woman mocked, "A mortal could never kill me. I could easily destroy this world but I prefer not to dirty my hands."

"You won't get away with this," Souma challenged as he stepped forward, "I don't know what you hope to accomplish but we will stop you."

Sighing, the woman tilted her head, "I don't think you realize the position you're in. Very well, I will give you a chance. Find me before tomorrow ends and you will get the woman back, and I might leave you alone. I wait to see if you will find me in time."

The woman disappeared suddenly, along with Himeko, in a flash of light and left Chikane, Souma, and Makoto alone in the room. It took a second for anyone to react but when they did there was a mix of anger, concern, and depression. Chikane clenched her teeth and stormed off, reappearing seconds later with a certain katana style sword in her hands. Souma had went over to check on Makoto's wounds and found that while they were deep enough to bleed they were not so serious that they would need a doctor. He looked over at Chikane as he stood.

"What are you planning to do with that?"

The woman drew the sword, the blade shinning brightly in the light of the room, "I'm going to find that woman and rescue Himeko. I swear her head with be mine by the end of the day."

"Miss Himemiya, you can be a little scary," Souma said with a slight bead of sweat forming on his brow, "Putting that aside, where do you plan to find them?"

"I don't know but I will find them," Chikane challenged, "And if anyone gets in my way they will meet the sharp side of my blade. That woman has no choice but to wash her neck!"

Makoto drew herself up to the couch, "I think someone has watched too many old samurai movies. Regardless, we need to figure out where they are before we can do anything. Calm down and put your sword away please, we're all worried about Himeko. I'm not going to try and challenge you if you go but I ask that you think calmly about this."

"How can I be calm when Himeko's in danger?" Chikane yelled, "I'm suppose to protect her and right now she's in danger! How can you be so calm? Don't you care?"

"We can't do anything for her," Souma said simply, "Not if we don't know what's going to happen."

"So you're just going to sit there and do nothing?" Chikane asked, clearly not in her right mind.

Souma walked up calmly, ignoring the sword completely and placing a hand on the woman's shoulder, "It's alright to cry at a time like this, Miss Himemiya."

Despite herself, Chikane started to do just that, "What makes you think that I would cry now? Just because I was powerless to stop that woman from taking Himeko? That's no reason to cry! I'm angry, okay, I just want to get Himeko back... I just want to save her... I'm so weak. I'm sorry Himeko."

The man looked on sympathetically as Chikane collapsed to the floor, "I'm sorry, we'll think of something. I'm sorry."

Makoto stood, "Souma, you go see if you can get any leads... I'll stay with Miss Himemiya."

Souma nodded and walked off, hesitating only to look back as Makoto tried to console the distraught woman, before he walked off towards the door. He did not know much about the woman but there were some things that were bothering him. He would be sure to ask Kazuki about her and a few other things. He would have to be quick about it though, they did not have much time.

--(Whew!)--

So that took a while. Between writing an essay, school, and trying to figure out what to do next in the story it took a bit of time to finish this. It's both unfortunate and fortunate that this is coming to an end. I say this because I have an idea for the next story but I really do not want to stop this one. All stories need an ending and before I write my next one I need to end this so that the two stories do not interfere with each other. It also feels like this is beginning to drag on so ending it would be good before I lose interest in it and just leave it ALMOST finished. That would suck for everyone. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, thanks for reading. As always, C&C welcome.

By the way, the woman is not a canon character. Do you want to know who she is? You won't find out here. Read the next chapter whenever I manage to release it. I will try my best not to have you wait too long.


	18. The Suns Heat

A Meeting and A Dream.

A K.N.M. Fan fiction.

I do not own Kannazuki no Miko, this story belongs to me however. Please respect the ideas of myself,

and others. Thank you.

NOTE: There are no Naruto references in the chapter. NONE. Anyone who implies it will face the wrath of Amaterasu, got it?

Chapter 18: The Suns Heat.

When Himeko awoke she found herself in chains, wrist and ankles bound. She was stripped down to her underwear for some reason that she could not tell. The room she was in was dark and smelled of dust and mold, the only light coming from a single bulb that hung from a wire in the middle of the room she was in. She remembered that she had been kidnapped and knocked out as soon as the woman escaped with her. Whether it was to prevent her from knowing the place she was being held or not she was unsure, all she knew as that she had to escape. Himeko struggled against her bonds but it was no use, not that she had thought it would make a difference in the first place, a person just never knew. The light was starting to become blinding contrasted against the pitch black as it was. The blond tried to close her amethyst eyes but the light still penetrated her eyelids.

"Are you uncomfortable?" The voice was that of the woman that had kidnapped her, "I'm glad."

Himeko replied, "Why are you doing this? I have nothing to do with you. I've never even seen you."

There was laughter then before she heard footsteps approach her, the voice getting closer, "You really have no idea what's going on. I'm not doing this for a vendetta against you, this is not that personal, I just want to destroy the world."

"Who are you?" The blond questioned, "At least tell me that."

"You're scared," The woman's hand reached out and grasped Himeko's chin harshly, "It's understandable to appeal to your captor when you're caught. I'll tell you this right now, whether I tell you my name or not makes no difference. By the time this is over you will be dead and the world will be coming to an end. Do you think I just chose you randomly? That woman loves you enough to betray her own people. I know this, no, I'm counting on it."

"Don't you dare hurt Chikane-chan!"

The woman laughed mockingly and slapped Himeko harshly across the face, "Do you realize your position. You are mine, I can do anything I want to you, in fact, I think I will just to make your lover more angry when she finds you. Once she's angry I will kill you and she will lose everything, and my plan for world destruction will be that much easier. Mortals are always easier to manipulate when they lose control of their emotions."

"Stop!" Himeko glared at the woman despite the blood now running from the side of her mouth where the woman's claws had opened a small wound, "Please don't hurt her! Do anything you want to me but don't hurt her!"

"You are just too much," The woman traced a finger down Himeko's bare stomach, a single black claw leaving a scratch in her pale skin, "I think this is going to be fun. By the end you will beg me to continue to play with you. Once you are on my side, the moon will be alone and the sun will cease to exist. I can't wait!"

Himeko shook her head, "It won't happen, it won't. I'll never want to be near you. I know Chikane-chan will save me."

"Oh," The woman leaned forward and breathed her words in Himeko's ear, "Let's see just how long you can resist, shall we?"

The blond looked away from her captor, "Get away from me, only Chikane-chan can touch me!"

With those words a bright yellow light surrounded the woman and the emblem of the sun flared to life on her chest. The woman leapt back as her hand suddenly started to burn and she grit her teeth and growled. She had not expected this; she would have to rethink her plane. For now she would let the woman calm down. Patience was required to win this, and she could be more patient than any mortal could even conceive. In the end she would pay, all of them would pay.

--(Ooh, Someone's evil!)--

Souma sat across from Kazuki with his knees under him and his eyes closed in concentration as the two of them prayed. When Souma had told his father about the woman that showed up there had been a look of surprise followed by hasty preparations for a ritual. The explanation had been quick and to the point, and the thought of it even being possible seemed to be a very bad omen indeed. It was bad enough having the eight-headed Orochi loose but on top of that was a nine-tailed fox that seemed to want to destroy the world. Things were not looking good.

The prayer came to an end and the older Oogami stood and produced some charms, handing them to Souma, "That prayer with protect you but only so far. If something goes wrong use these, don't hesitate. If Himeko is possessed by that woman... Just be careful."

Souma bowed, "Thank you very much, Father. There is one question I have: Do you think Miss Himemiya, no, the moon priestess will be okay. She's usually cold and calculating but she lost it when Himeko was taken away. Is there a chance that she will end up being a burden to us?"

Oogami Kazuki thought for a second, "I'm not sure, if she truly does lose herself to anger then it would be easy for the fox to inhabit HER. On the other hand there is a chance that she will be able to fight better. It all depends on her, I doubt she would allow herself to be left behind in any case. Take her along, but watch her closely."

Souma nodded, "I agree, there is no way I could prevent her from going. I will watch her."

Souma turned and strode out the door, leaving Kazuki behind and hoping on his motorcycle. Putting on his helmet and climbing on he gave a short hop to kick-start the engine. The engine came alive and he was shooting down the road at speeds well above what the speed limit should be. They had little time and he would not let something like the law keep him from saving Himeko. Everyone was waiting for him to get back. Makoto and Himeko, but most of all Chikane. The way she had looked, like she lost everything, it had caused him to curse himself for not being able to do something. No matter how strong they were they were all unable to do anything to save Himeko. Guilt weighed heavily on him as he pushed the bike to its limit.

--( kaze **ite nori**, Souma!)--

Makoto was sitting next to Chikane feeling helpless as the woman wept. She could say nothing to make the woman feel better, she had no right to. In the end she had been just as helpless to protect Himeko as everyone else and she had been right next to the woman. It had just been so sudden that there was no time for her to react, she had been thrown to the floor and scratched in the same instance. The scratch was light but something made it hurt bad enough to paralyze her. Whoever that woman was she was very dangerous. Makoto cursed and clenched her fist.

"It's my fault," The brown haired woman said to herself, "I was right there, right next to Himeko and I did nothing."

"It's not like you could have," Chikane had paused in her sobbing just long enough to respond, "You're a normal person. You should not even be involved in this."

"But you were normal before all of this happened too," Makoto said.

Chikane shook her head, "No, I was never normal. If I was Himeko would never have been in this mess. I caused her so much pain because I'm weak."

Makoto paused and stood up, "I need to leave. To think that Himeko chose you over me makes me too sick. All you do is feel sorry for yourself and blame yourself. You can't do anything but make her sad."

Standing suddenly and grabbing Makoto by the front of the shirt, Chikane glared at her, "You don't know anything about me. You have no right to comment."

Makoto pushed Chikane away and turned, "I have no right? I don't know anything about you? You're the one that Himeko chose to love forever. I have every right to comment about it because she is my friend and I care about her. Obviously a lot more than you."

"How dare you!"

"Yes, how dare I! You're nothing but a coward," There was a pause as the two glared at each other, "I loved her for so much long than you, but you come strolling in as if you own the place and just take her. Everything comes so easy for you. Do you even have to try? I hate people like you, complaining how life is so hard when they never have to work a day in their life. Do you even know what she went through? How much pain she had to endure to hold out for you? You keep saying you're weak but I have yet to see you do anything but cry about it. That's why you make me sick, I don't hate you, I used to respect you. I loved the music you made, it was the only classical music I ever listened to. Now that I know you though, I can't believe how shallow you really are."

Chikane was speechless, "Makoto..."

The woman sat down, emotionally exhausted, "I'm sorry, it just kind of came out. I'm just worried about Himeko. I didn't mean it."

In that second, Chikane felt herself come back from the brink and her old face reappeared, "No, you are absolutely right. I've been a spoiled brat; I thought only of myself this whole time. I forgot that we all care for Himeko and only thought of myself. Just for the record, I do know what she's gone through. I probably know more about it than you, so never bring that up again. I love her with every part of my being. Without her I could not exist, do you understand? That night she was hurt and broke her arm I was so worried that I couldn't sleep. We have lived many lives and always been together, Makoto, I don't think I could take losing her now. She is the part of me that my soul requires to live, I could not more be away from her than I could stop breathing."

"I understand," Makoto said, "I had no chance from the beginning. Of all the choice she could have ended up with, you can provide for her the best."

Chikane sat down next to her, "I'm sorry for being so spoiled but now is not the time to fight. I... Truthfully, I want to get to know you better because you are Himeko's friend and I want to be your friend also. In the past I was selfish, but now I know better."

"I understand," The brown haired woman said, "I'm sorry for saying you were shallow. I think maybe we... We should talk some time. You make me angry but I certainly don't think that is the only side to you. Himeko has a gift. She can forgive anyone no matter how bad they are. Sometimes I wish I could be that way, I would like to be friends with you."

The dark haired woman nodded, "I know, she is so innocent I just don't want anyone to take that away from her. Her heart is priceless, if she was ever tainted I would never forgive myself. That is why I get scared when something happens to her. I don't know if she will change from the person I know. I scares me to think that she could lose the part of her that I love. No, that's wrong, I will always love her but I don't want her hurt."

Makoto chuckled, "Now that you say that, we should definitely do something to save her."

Souma came rushing through the door suddenly, ripping off his helmet and panting. His suit was wet with sweat and his knees were bent, hands resting on them. Both the women stood and walked over to him, helping him catch his breath. Otoha came in with a cup of water and the man drank it greedily before he took a deep breath.

"I know where she is," He said finally, "I also know what we're dealing with, we have to be careful."

"What is it?" Chikane asked.

The word that came out of his mouth made everyone gasp, "Fox."

Makoto looked downcast, "This is not good, how do we fight a fox spirit? I imagine it is probably pretty powerful."

"Nine-tail," Souma confirmed, "If we're going to save Himeko we must go now. Either way it's going to be a hard fight and it may be long."

With those words, Chikane and Makoto disappeared upstairs for a few minutes, just long enough to change into something more suitable for the trip ahead. Chikane came back down dressed in a navy blue hooded sweatshirt and olive green cargo pants. They had only ever been worn once or twice before on the rare occasion she decided to go camping. Makoto followed in a gray long-sleeved shirt and denim pants that were just a little long on her due to the height difference. Chikane picked up the sword and her and Souma made their way towards the door. Makoto paused behind them. They turned back to glance at her.

"I don't know how dangerous it will be," Souma said, "I'm not going to stop you but I can't make any guarantee that you won't get hurt. Do you want to come?"

Makoto paused before nodding, "I would feel worse if I didn't go. I may not be of any help but it's better than waiting here."

The man nodded and the three of them exited the house, Souma jumping on his motorcycle while Chikane got in her car with Makoto. The driver knew not to ask questions so he obediently drove to the place that Souma had told him. It was a far drive and the sun was already on its downward arch towards the horizon. As Chikane looked at it she had a feeling that it was in some way representative of Himeko. If that was true then they really did have little time. Chikane gripped the sword tighter and grit her teeth.

"Hang on Himeko," Chikane said to herself.

She felt a squeeze of her hand and looked over at Makoto who just said, "It will be alright, just trust her and everything will be fine."

The dark haired woman nodded and relaxed slightly. This was going to be a rush.

--(Ooh, suspense)--

As they arrived at the place Souma had been told Himeko was being held, there was a sense of foreboding about the area. It was absolutely silent, not even the sound of the wind passing by them. They were at the foot of an old abandoned shrine, though it was a holy place the whole aura seemed wrong. There was something evil there, that much was clear.

The driver watched the three made their way up the stairs and sighed before leaning back in his chair and pulling his hat low over his eyes. It was his chance to take a nap as he was sure he would have a busy night coming up. Chikane gripped the sword tightly as they walked up the stairs, then she noticed that Souma also had a sword in his hands.

"How did you get a sword?"

Souma answered without turning, "It was a parting gift from my brother. He's already been claimed by the curse, in fact all of the original Orochi have. It took them faster since they never tried to fight it."

Chikane nodded, "I see, so that means I probably don't have much time, huh?"

"Probably not," Souma said as they continued to climb, "In any case we don't have time to discuss that."

Chikane looked at her hand, it had not hurt in a while and she had failed to take any painkillers for a while. Hesitatingly she unwrapped the bandage and found her fear very warranted, around the wound there were already scales forming. Her whole hand was pretty much useless as it was and she would have to use her one hand to wield the sword. It would be difficult but she was sure that there would be a way to fight, for Himeko's sake. The three eventually reached the top of the stairs to the shrine and entered the run down building. Inside it was dark with the only light coming from the setting sun through the windows of the shrine. Souma produced a flashlight and shone it around at the walls and the floor.

There was nothing suspicious about the shrine itself, however there was definitely something suspicious about the stairs in the back of the main entrance to the shrine. All three of them made their way down the old stairs, taking caution of the old stairway that looked like it would give way at any second. Slowly the light of the day disappeared as they entered the underground basement of the shrine. Normally shrines like this did not have basements so that was enough to have them inspect it. None of them knew what would come out of the dark at them but they did know that someone precious to them was waiting for them. Without fear the three of them proceeded onward.

As they got deeper into the shrine the stairs wound around in a spiral, going deeper and deeper until they had no idea if they were even on the same side of the world. Darkness stole their time from them and none of them knew how much they had left. It was hard to hurry when you could not see the steps in front of you. Souma noticed the flashlight starting to dim and he checked to see if he had batteries to spare. He had none.


	19. Eternal Priestess

A Meeting and A Dream.

A K.N.M. Fan fiction.

I do not own Kannazuki no Miko, this story belongs to me however. Please respect the ideas of myself,

and others. Thank you.

NOTE: If you are confused by the beginning, make sure you read the full previous chapter. There was a mistake that I did not notice in the initial twenty-four hours. It is fixed now, with the full chapter uploaded.

Chapter 19: Eternal Priestess.

Chikane looked down in horror, this was not right, there was pain in her body that she could not comprehend. Himeko was looking at her with wide eyes full of fear and denial, her face covered in little flecks of blood. It had happened just as they reached each other, the fox woman's words hit them. What was worse is that they had both let their guard down. The dark haired woman heard a scream in the corner of her senses as she had grabbed Himeko in an embrace. Then pain hit her and the two women fell to the ground, Chikane on top of Himeko. Looking at her one and only love, with blood escaping from her mouth as she fought the pain that was running through her body, she smiled as reassuringly as she could at Himeko. Then the pain was gone and she looked down to see that this did not mean she was okay at all. The stress on her body had sped up the curse and her wound had been covered in those damn scales.

"I'm sorry, Himeko, in the end I really was too weak," The woman leaned in and gave Himeko a lingering kiss, her blood mixing with saliva in her mouth.

Himeko broke the kiss and hugged her, "It's okay, Chikane-chan, you did what you could. You were strong enough for both of us. Thank you for everything."

The scales were rapidly covering the rest of her body but she knew she had to say one more thing before she was unable to, "Himeko, promise me, no matter what happens, never lose your innocence. Please, for me. Before I can't move, do me this litter favor."

Tears began to fall from the other woman's eyes as she nodded once, quickly, "I promise, Chikane-chan, when we find each other again we will be the same."

"I don't think there will be a next time," Chikane said as she was finally taken over completely.

Tears fell with full force as the woman ceased moving, now totally covered in tiny purple scales. Himeko hugged her lover and cried as everyone looked on, the fox woman standing back with a smile. Her tails waved back and forth as she smiled with satisfaction at the scene before her. It was definitely nice to see the priestess in pain as she was. With a loud furious yell Souma came charging at her with his sword raised, the woman did not move as the blade was brought down and bounced harmlessly off her. As if he was an insect she slapped Souma away, clawing him as she did so and leaving a large gash across his body.

"Souma," It was Makoto yelling from the side, she ran up to him, "Are you alright?"

The man managed to give a weak nod, "Yes, you need to get out of here. You can't do anything to her."

Standing, the brown haired woman shook her head, "I promised myself I would fight and that is what I'll do. I may not accomplish anything but I won't forgive myself if I don't at least try," She turned to Himeko and smiled with confidence she did not really feel, "Just watch, Himeko, I'll take that woman down and we'll all go home together.

--(Pwn3d)--

In the car where he was waiting the driver sighed and woke up, it was about that time. Replacing the driving hat to its normal place on his head he opened the door to the car and stepped out slowly. With his hands in his pockets and his knees bent he started to make his way up the stairs. This would be the absolute only time he would go out of his way to help these two. It was his fault to begin with so now he would end their tedium and set them free from the cycle he had started.

--(What?)--

Himeko was horrified by the scene, Chikane was froze, Souma was to hurt to be of any use, Makoto was no unconscious, and the blond could do nothing. It was hopeless, she was just a photographer, she could not fight a god. The woman walked up to her and grabbed her roughly, drawing her up to face her. Even now the scales were starting to cover Souma's body and prevent him from moving, from feeling the pain that ran through his body. Somewhere in the back of Himeko's mind she realized that nobody had actually been fatally wounded. This passing thought was quickly forgotten with the next words from the foxes mouth.

"Well that was boring," The woman smiled evilly, "Do you still believe you can defeat me? I could end your life now but I think I'll leave you alive. It would be so easy to manipulate you."

The blond was lost in despair, all her friends were hurt because of her, she could do nothing for them, "Why are you doing this? I just want to live a normal life."

"Don't whine," the woman threw her to the ground roughly, the woman crying out in pain, "You humans are so pathetic. To think that old man decided to leave the sword in your care."

There was nothing she could do, Himeko reached out for the form of Chikane but only found the rough scales there. Her world had shattered around her and she could do nothing but watch it happen as if she were a spectator. Everything suddenly felt very cold and lonely. If only Chikane was there to hold her and tell her everything would be fine, she could escape the fear.

"This is all because of me, isn't it?" Himeko stood and looked at the woman, "They all became this way trying to defend me."

Laughing, the fox woman folded her arms across her chest, "My, you just now figured this out? I must say you are very dense. What are you going to do now that you realize how pitiful you are?"

"They all risked their life for me," Himeko bent down and slowly picked up the sword that Chikane had dropped when she had been frozen, "Now it is my turn to risk my life."

"Oh? And just what do you plan on doing with that?" The fox woman mocked, "You're to weak to even hold the sword right. Don't make me laugh."

Without any further words Himeko charged with the sword, readying it to slash the woman and take her life. She never made it however as she tripped and fell. For a second the woman stared in disbelief before she laughed hard. Himeko drew herself to her feet, barely able to stand, it had not been long since she was taken captive but she was weak from the torment of her captor. Every time the fox woman tried to touch her a light had surrounded her and protected her. The consequence of that had been a massive use of her energy and now she barely had enough to stand on her own. The woman charged once more and managed to actually contact the woman, the blade of the sword actually leaving a slight cut along the woman's arm near the wrist.

The fox woman was not so happy with the cut, "You actually managed to cut me with that toy. No, I forgot that the sword is a holy relic originally used by a god. Its power could never be understood by humans but that just makes it more dangerous."

Himeko smiled before she fell to the ground once more, "See, I cut you."

"And it is the last thing you will ever do," The woman drove her razor sharp claws towards Himeko's chest where her sun emblem was glowing like a light bulb ready to burn out.

"That's quite enough," A voice said from the entrance.

The fox woman looked up to see the old driver standing there in his gray driving suit, his face smiling but regarding her with a warning look. She back up and kept a good amount of distance as he walked towards Himeko and picked her up gingerly, laying her down besides the frozen form of Chikane. The mans placed a hand on her forehead and a warming sensation pulsed through her body before her eyes closed.

"Rest here for a while," The man said, "You have both worked hard. I will finish what I started."

The flame-haired woman could sense power from him even though he looked like a human, "Who are you?"

As he took of his hat the man smiled, "You know me well."

The hat came down over his face and where there was once and old man with gray hair stood a man who was much younger. His short ashy hair was now a long shimmering black, all one length and tied in a pony-tail high on his head. He was much thinner with dark brown eyes and tanned skin, his body was that of an athlete. Slowly he bent down and picked up the sword, Ame no Murakumo and examined it before sighing and shaking his head.

"I leave them alone and look how they do," The man grasped the sword tightly and light shot up the blade, the form changing.

Once it was finished the blade was that of a strait double-edge with a slim profile, about the same length as it had been. The man swung it around a few times before placing it in a newly formed sheath and turning to look at his adversary.

"Who are you?" The woman asked.

"You will know me by the name written in the clouds and the lighting in the sky," The man answered.

"Susano-o! To think that you would appear in front of these girls," The woman backed away, "I'm not going to die here. I can't let it end."

The god shrugged, "I see you know the truth can be pretty frightening, please forgive me but I only meant to reclaim my sword."

"Ah, so you leave their lives to me?" The woman seemed hopeful.

"No, I just never intended to kill you," The man sighed, "I only came to remove the burden of the sword from these two. Unfortunately I can not remove the burden of the priestess that they carry. Such a shame to always live on as a reincarnation without ever truly finding Nirvana. The least I can do is allow them to be happy with each other. Say, Tamo-chan, can you do me a favor and leave the world at peace."

The fox woman blinked at the man saying her name so familiarly, "Why should I, I will never be left at peace. Always hunted like a common mongrel, having to cower from some pitiful human. There will never be peace as long as my kind are hunted."

Susano-o unsheathed his blade and raised it in a double grip over his head, and for a second the woman believed her end was near. The sword was brought down not at her though, but at the frozen from of Chikane, who fell to the ground. The woman landed hard on her side and for a second she was confused to be able to move. Her limbs felt numb, asleep from being frozen in place, but eventually she started to feel the circulation move through her body once again.

"What do you propose I should do?" The god of storms asked the woman as she slowly drew herself to a sitting position.

Chikane looked up at him, "What? What's going on?"

The man said nothing to answer her question but pointed at the woman, "She accuses your kind of hunting her. She says that there will be no peace as long as it continues, do you agree?"

"I know we hunt foxes," Chikane answered with hesitation, "But not all humans are the same. Some even try to prevent hunting. I feel bad that these things were done to you but do we not have a right to live also?"

"You think words will solve years of persecution?" The woman kept her distance but obviously seemed ready to attack at any second, "Humans just don't understand the pain we go though."

Chikane looked down at Himeko resting next to her and felt a pang of sadness, "This isn't something I can answer. I don't want anyone hurt anymore, there has already been so much pain around me. I just want to live in peace with the person I love. If killing us makes you feel better I know I can't stop you, but I just want everyone to live a peaceful life."

"Will you give this up," Susano-o asked one last time, "Killing you would be a shame that I do not want upon the world. I know the old you exists somewhere in there, but I don't know how to reach it."

With a sigh, the woman looked away, "After coming this far, do you think anyone would forgive me for what I have done? I doubt it, the only option left is to kill me. Or for me to kill you."

On the ground, the blond stirred slightly and Susano-o blinked in surprise, she really should have slept longer than that, "No, please don't do this."

"What?" The fox was as surprised as anyone, "I can see it in you, you're not evil. Please stop this and live in peace."

"As if anyone would really forgive me!"

Himeko managed to make it to the kneeling position, "I will! I can forgive you because you did not want to harm me. You just wanted my power, and Chikane-chan's. It would have been the same if it was anyone else who had the power that we hold."

"But the fact remains that I did hurt you."

Himeko looked over at Chikane with pleading in her eyes, "Please forgiver her, Chikane-chan. I know she hurt me but I'm fine and you're fine. If she really meant it she would have killed us instead of incapacitating us. Even Souma was saved because the wound caused him to freeze like you. I know she really wants kindness, not destruction."

The dark haired woman looked from her blond angel towards the flame haired woman, "What Himeko says it true. You could have killed us many times but did not. I am prepared to forgive you if you are willing to accept it."

Tears started to fall from the fox woman's eyes as she shook her head, "How could you forgive me like that? I did nothing but cause you harm and yet you forgive me. It's not right."

Susano-o lowered the sword and sheathed it, "I see this is over so I will take my leave," The god turned and started to walk toward the exit.

"Wait," The god paused as the fox called out to him, "Why did you come here to save me?"

The man waved a finger disapprovingly, "You know me better than that, I simply came to retrieve the sword Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, thus freeing the girls from the burden of protecting the earth. That is the most I can do for them after all of these centuries. I wish I could free them from their duties as the Priestesses of the Godless Month but that is something that is beyond me. Farewell, Tamamo-no-Mae."

With that the god disappeared in a flash of light and left the three humans and the fox spirit alone in the room, "That old god is as rash as ever," The fox spirit groaned before continuing, "Are you really okay with this?"

"I'm fine," Himeko replied, "I know you will not do any more harm."

"How do you know this?" The woman asked.

The blond blinked, "I can not really explain it. I just know, I can see it in you."

"Thank you," The fox said as she bowed before turning and starting to walk up the stairs.

"Um, can I just ask one favor?"

The flame haired woman turned back in surprise, "Huh?"

"If you have the time," Himeko blushed slightly before she felt Chikane put a hand on her shoulder, "Could you come visit us."

"My, my, you certainly do not hold a grudge," The woman smiled, "If I have the time I will."

"Thank you."

With that the fox woman disappeared up the stairs and left Himeko and Chikane alone with the unconscious forms of Souma and Makoto. The man had since returned to his unfrozen state, ever since Susano-o had reclaimed the sword from the priestesses. Now the two of them were left with the problem of getting the two home. Chikane helped Himeko stand before she looked around at the room, it was still light.

"Well, should we go home?" Chikane asked as she smiled at Himeko.

The blond smiled back, warming the dark haired woman's heart, "Yes."

--(Wow, just wow)--

Okay, I really don't have much to say about this chapter. It was fine in the beginning but I think I was forcing it a little at the end. Or a lot. Anyways, hope you enjoy it. I'm going to take a break for a while and try and rest my mind. Questions, comments, concerns? Feel free to write them, otherwise I probably will drop off the map for a week or so. Just giving you a notice. This is NOT the last chapter. I think maybe two or three more will finish this story off. Thank you all for reading.


	20. Overcoming

A Meeting and A Dream.

A K.N.M. Fan fiction.

I do not own Kannazuki no Miko, this story belongs to me however. Please respect the ideas of myself,

and others. Thank you.

NOTE: (No note, note)

Chapter 20: Reasons Given.

It had been a few weeks since the fight at the shrine and everything had returned to what constituted as normal for Himeko and Chikane. There were a few things still left to address but for the most part nothing too exciting was happening. Currently the two girls were in bed with their arms embracing one another and eyes closed, sleeping comfortably. It was a position they had been in a few times since they met, but today it felt even more important than normal. Chikane had become a lot more wary of letting Himeko out of her sight after the abduction, even with Himeko saying it was fine. There had been an argument, though short, about when they would have time together and Chikane's responsibility to keep the woman safe. It had ended, as it always seemed to, with the blond blaming herself for the events in the past and Chikane trying to convince her that it was okay. It was like a back and forth game of tennis where nobody really won but nobody lost either. Later they had talked with a calmer presence of mind and there had been an agreement to let Himeko be alone as long as she was not at home. Of course, this would mean that Chikane would get to do whatever she needed to keep the woman close when Himeko was home.

Mostly keeping the woman close involved so much cuddling that Himeko had started to get the feeling she was a comfortable pillow more than a person, not that she minded this. It was true what Chikane had said before, people do change and are always changing. Something had happened to her that made her realize her own mortality, something Chikane did not want to experience again. She had been cautious, heeding the doctors orders about her injuries after she had went for a check-up after the fight. Her hand had healed completely and the only evidence of her ever being frozen was a light scar that she was told would disappear in time. All of this Chikane had told her, but Himeko was sure there was something else she was holding back. The blond saw it every time they mentioned their future, a kind of regretful look passed over Chikane's face. These were all problems that were better left for the future.

Now was what mattered, now was laying next to Chikane and watching her breath in and out slowly. It was the only time in a while she had been calm. Himeko leaned in and was close to kissing her but pulled back at the last minute, afraid that she would wake the woman and shatter the calm. Chikane had so much to worry about, so much stress that was difficult for Himeko to comprehend. Even beginning to realize the things that stressed her lover could be enough to make her head spin. There was often venting about the hardships of work that involved words that Himeko had difficulty putting into context.

Instead of a kiss she gently placed a hand on the other womans face and moved a lock of hair out of the way, letting her hand caress it gently. Recently days had always started like this and ended with everyone so busy that there was no time to spend with each other. Himeko had school, Chikane had work, Souma also had to work, and Makoto was only ever seen while they were in class. The blond rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling as if she was blaming it for her problems. It was her fault for assuming that everything would return to "normal" after the curse had been lifted and the fox spirit had been dealt with. Defeated was the wrong word, they had all lost horribly.

It was hardest on Chikane, who seemed to think that Himeko getting kidnapped was her fault for some stupid reason. It was not as if she could have done anything about it. Of course Himeko knew that this fact alone was not enough to convince the dark haired woman that she was not responsible.

"Himeko?"

The blond turned to the voice, "Yeah, Chikane-chan?"

There was restless shuffling as the woman drew her head from underneath the covers of the bed. She had been sleeping that way ever since it had begun to get colder and it made her appear cute. Cute was something Chikane did not accomplish often, which made it even more so. As her head popped out from the blanket she rubbed her sleep-heavy eyes and blinked. Her hair was messy with strands doing whatever they wanted. This was not the normally sexy Chikane that the public knew. This was the cute Chikane-chan that only she was familiar with.

"Meany, you made me think you left."

"Don't act cute like that," Himeko said quietly.

Chikane dropped the act and her eyes narrowed into their usual sexy look as she crawled over to Himeko as if she was a wolf hunting her prey. Normally this would have registered average on the sexy scale. The fact that she was naked on top of that made it more of a superior sexiness. Himeko quickly put a hand to her nose as she felt blood rushing to her head. The blond cursed her perverted thoughts once again.

Chikane leaned in and gave her a kiss on the forehead with a low chuckle, "Himeko's a pervert."

"Who's fault is that," The blond protested a little too loudly, "Jeez."

Despite the protests of the blond woman she reached out and embraced Chikane around the neck, pulling her in for a kiss. This part was back to how it had been at least. The dark-haired girls hand traveled down to Himeko's breast and lingered for a second before continuing down towards her stomach and beyond. Gasps of pleasure escaped as Himeko felt her body spasm uncontrollably and she drew her tormentor into a tighter embrace, searching for some stability. This only increased the intensity and after a while Himeko was sweating and concentrating on holding her voice in, all other thoughts forgotten. Then it was over and the blond collapsed back onto the bed with a final gasp, totally dominated by her lovers caress. Chikane smiled and gave Himeko a deep kiss.

"Sorry, but I could not help myself," The woman said as she let her marine blue eyes stare deeply into Himeko's amethyst eyes.

The blond smiled and placed a hand behind Chikane's head and drew her in closer, whispering, "That's fine but I get to pay you back now."

Chikane blinked before she felt Himeko's sudden embrace and gasped, her mind going blank as she was rolled to her back. The blond continued to tease the woman and they both lost track of time. Time passed and both girls finished, laying gasping on the bed in each others arms.

"Chikane-chan?"

The dark haired woman looked at Himeko in the eyes with a smile, "What is it, my love?"

"I was just wondering if you feel lonely when I'm gone," Himeko said, "I know it's hard for you to be apart because we have had trouble in the past. It's just that I feel so glad to be near you and sad when we're apart. Do you feel the same?"

Chikane brought her hand up behind Himeko's neck and for a second the blond thought another kiss was coming until their foreheads hit lightly, "You are so funny, Himeko. Sometimes I don't know if you're acting like this on purpose or you really are that dense. Of course I'm lonely when you're gone and I worry about you more than anything in my life. If you're concerned about something I will do my best to solve the problem, because I can not see you in pain."

"Just promise me one thing," Himeko said as she closed her eyes and allowed herself to sink into her lover, "I won't ask you to tell me everything, but please try not to scare me. If you start to act distant please tell me what is bothering you."

Chikane smiled, "I will, I promise."

--(A Visit)--

Though they had left on business a few days ago, Chikane's parents did not take long to come back. They were worried about their daughter who had been hurt before they left, and seemed to be emotionally unstable. When they arrived they found the two women eating breakfast and Chikane was so surprised she nearly choked on the food she had been eating. The two adults scooped their daughter into their arms and left Himeko sitting in bewildered shock with a half-finished plate of food. The blond finished and quietly left the family to talk amongst themselves, her companion noticing but unable to comment with the smothering her parents gave her.

"I'm glad you're better," Her mother said, "how are you feeling."

"Fine, I'm doing fine," The dark haired woman said, "I actually do have something important to talk to you about. I need advice."

Her father lost his smile when he saw the look on her face, "What happened?"

Chikane took a deep breath and looked to make sure Himeko was still out of the room, "I don't think I can carry on the family line."

There was a pregnant pause before the older man sighed, "You mean because of your relationship."

"No," The woman found her legs shaking too much and sat slowly to make sure she would not fall over, "I got hurt protecting Himeko and cannot have a child. I also have to change my lifestyle so that I have less stress. My body was hurt and will take a while to recover from the wounds. Probably a couple years."

"I assume you told Himeko," Her mother said gently but firmly.

Chikane looked down guiltily, "No."

"Because you don't want to worry her," The older woman said, "My daughter is so foolish."

"You don't understand," The young woman said, "She would definitely blame herself for what happened. I can't do that to her."

Her mother said down next to her, "That may be true, but she will end up hurt even more if you try to keep it from her. As close as you two are it is impossible."

Chikane put her hands in her arms with a sigh, "I know, but I'm so confused. I never knew relationships were so hard. Can you help me tell her?"

"If that's what you want," Her mother replied, "Now that this issue is over with, we have to take care of the other problem."

"I accept that you will not carry on the family line as you are, but she can still do it," Her father stated.

"Are you telling me to make her have a child?" Chikane was livid.

The man held up his hands in a warding motion, "I'm not asking you to make her do anything. I just want you to consider it. I think you are too young as it is anyways."

Chikane looked horrified, "How could I do that to her? I need to consider her feelings also. I refuse to force my will on her this time."

"This time?" The woman's mother asked.

Nervously, Chikane waved her hand, "Never mind, its in the past anyways. I am not going to make her do what she does not want to do."

"I accepted your relationship, the least you can do is consider this as a possible outcome," Chikane's father said with growing irritation, "I never said to force her into the decision. The fact is that you can't have a child and if you do end up wanting one she can still accommodate such a decision. Consider it, that's all I ask of you, my daughter. I know well enough that neither of us can control you once you make a decision anyways."

The dark haired woman sighed and relented finally, "I get it. If it does come up I will ask Himeko about it and see what she thinks. If she says no, don't expect it to happen."

"I guess that's the best I can hope for," Her father said.

--(Oh boy)--

It had been quite the announcement when her parents finally helped her get up the nerve to talk to Himeko about her problems. It was not as if she could do anything about it, but the blond had reacted exactly as Chikane had predicted. Himeko's depression was quickly smothered by Chikane's mother as the older woman sat down next to the blond and comforted her. At length she was convinced that the injuries had not been her fault and they were able to move on to the more important matters between the two. Chikane started by telling the woman the little good news she could get out of the problems the injuries had caused. There was only one, but Chikane knew that Himeko would at least be happy because there would be more chance to spend time with her while she was going to school. It was when the dark-haired woman tried to tell Himeko the rest of the complications that everything started to fall apart and her mother decided that this conversation was going to a place she did not want to know. The older woman left the room quickly, leaving the two to talk.

"So you're saying that if you get into a stressful situation you could die?"

Chikane nodded hesitantly, "I know it is scary but I cannot do anything about it. The injuries will take time to heal. If we can continue a normal life there will be no problems. If there is another attack though..."

Himeko was suppressing her tears, "I don't want you to die!"

The dark-haired girl sighed, "I am not going to, I doubt there will be an attack in the future. The curse of the Orochi has been lifted from everyone and the burden of the sword has been removed from us. The only problem we have left is having to deal with the eternal cycle of rebirth we are caught in."

"I see," Himeko said when she calmed down a little, "That's good, as long as our life can stay normal then you will be able to live."

"Of course, this presents a problem for my other job as a musician," Chikane said as she moved to the bed of the room they were in and sat next to Himeko, "Though it is longer than planned I do not think it will be much problem, though."

The blond sighed, "Good," She leaned into Chikane and dried her tears, "You scare me so much, Chikane-chan, but as long as you don't leave me I'm fine."

Chikane wrapped an arm protectively around her lover, "I'm glad to hear that. I won't leave you as long as I have a choice," The woman paused and Himeko started to feel something wet fall on her head, "I'm sorry, Himeko, is it alright if I cry. I tried to stay strong for you, I'm sorry for worrying you."

The blond looked up and wiped a few teardrops away, "Everyone needs to cry sometimes. I don't mind, you've been strong enough for both of us. You're not alone anymore, Chikane-chan."

"I suppose you're right," Chikane said as she leaned into Himeko and let her tears flow into the woman's bosom, "I am not alone anymore."

"Chikane-chan..."

"Himeko..."

They both finished at the same time as they fell into each others embrace, "I love you."

Outside, the parents that had been listening smiled and closed the cracked open door, leaving the two girls alone in the room. There were sure to be complications in the future but that was true of any relationship where two people cared about one another. The bond was strong enough between the two women that it would take something with the force of an atomic bomb to tear them apart. Even then it would be a small chance of severing such a bond completely. Love can not change the laws of physics but it can make many things a lot easier to bear. It can also make the weak strong and bring happiness to even the most tragic lives. For Chikane and Himeko it worked its own little miracle and brought them together against the laws of the universe so they would be together and happy. Though nobody understands how it works, true love does exist in many different forms.

--(Hmmm.)--

That is it. The last paragraph may as well of been syrup as sappy as it was but I also think it was sweet, which is what I was going for. If someone were to take a bite of it their teeth would probably rot out immediately. This chapter is over and I might write another one as a kind of wrap up for the other characters. I still do not know for sure. Anyways, I finished the main story arch with Himeko and Chikane so officially this story is over. It may have a sequel but I'm not really planning as much as I left the ending pretty well wrapped up I think. The next story will probably be way different (I really wanted some fluffiness in this one) and I'm not sure if fans will accept it the same. I guess we will have to see. Oh, and I can't make any promises on the punctuality of the next story. Until next time...

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU.


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